Harry Black
by Notsoancientmariner
Summary: On that fateful night in '81, Sirius arrives first, gathers up Harry and takes up his god-fatherly duties, raising Harry with the help of Remus and a nudge from the ghosts of Lilly and James in secrecy before returning to the wizarding world for Harry's third year. Rated M for violence and language. No slash, no definite pairing yet.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer:_

_Not mine, never was and I'm not making any money off this._

_Author's note:_

_Second, slightly better (I think) attempt at a story for here. Sirius has given up revenge in favour of raising Harry, while James has returned as a ghost. Please read and review, all comments will be greatly appreciated._

Sirius slumped at the table eyes wandering across peeling paintwork. He contemplatively eyed the six pack of beer on the counter, wondering about waiting for Peter to come back before he cracked one open. They had been shifting between safe houses every couple of days ever since Dumbledore had cast the Fidelius, and Sirius had never been so bored in his entire life. Wormtail was fine enough to hangout with, but they just didn't share the same rapport that he did with James or Lupin. He gave a mournful sigh thinking about the werewolf. He'd been off trying to secure an alliance with the clans to little success and there was also the niggling suspicion at the back of his mind that maybe, just maybe, Remus would throw his lot in with the pack. He hated himself for thinking of his friend as a possible traitor, but too many packs had sided with the Dark Lord for them to not even consider the possibility.

"Damn it but I hate this war" he groused to no one in particular, wandering over to the window and twitching the curtain to one side. Still no sign of Peter. The fourth marauder had left nearly an hour ago to pick up some supplies, not long enough for Sirius to worry, but long enough for him to get bored. He began to pace up and down, casting another glance at the beer. "Sod it" he muttered to himself, fishing out a bottle and popping the cap. Sirius raised it in toast "James, Lilly and Harry, to your safety" he took a swig "I bet they're having more fun at Godric's Hollow than I am here anyway". The bottle paused halfway to his lips as he realised what he had just said.

"Oh fuck" the last word was cut off by a crack of apparition as he disappeared, the beer bottle dropping to smash on the floor of the now deserted flat.

Sirius re-appeared at the on the road in front of the Potter residence. Hitting the ground running, he hurdled the remains of the gate, wand in hand before pulling up short. A quick glance showed house and garden scarred by spell damage both defensive and offensive. He recognised the decapitated remains of several animated hedge sculptures that Lilly had charmed, a stone fountain that had been transfigured into a lion by James was left in two parts. The rest was unidentifiable but overlying everything was the distinct tang of dark magic that Sirius had become all too familiar with both while growing up in the Black house and since the rise of the Dark Lord. Everything seemed... Dead. A swish of his wand sent a patronus messenger away into the night.

He blended with the shadows as he made his way up the path, face impassive even as his mind screamed at him to sprint forwards and see what had happened to his best friend and his family. Too many times he had sped straight into trouble and last time he had nearly died. Sirius refused to put anyone who might be left alive inside because he couldn't learn a lesson as he strained every sense at the door way, desperate for any hint of what was going on inside. Nothing. He cast a noise and light maker inspired by the flash-bangs the muggles had used at the Iranian Embassy a few months before through the door way before diving through the window, rolling into a crouch with wand ready. Nothing but the slight ringing of his own spell.

The damage to the room made him catch his breath. He had spent several weeks with James and Lilly casting spells and casting runes on everything that could conceivably be used as a weapon against attack and a few things that couldn't. The inventiveness that had made them the cause of the exasperation for many of the teachers during their time at school had been put to deadly use and by the look of things, they had all been activated.

Well... shit. Sirius allowed himself to hope – maybe if everything had activated James and Lilly had escaped. They'd poke their heads out in a moment and everything would be ok. He saw the shoe through the doorway to the corridor that lead to the stairs up to the first floor. Please just be a shoe, please just be a shoe. There was still a foot in it, but no leg or body attached to the foot. The voice in his head began to scream and gibber. He recognised the shoe. He swallowed, ignoring the shoe and the voice, creeping out into the corridor. At the foot of the stair well was a distinctly James shaped shadow.

"Oh, shit..." Sirius made his way forwards, the voice in his head now quiet, giving up ranting for rocking backwards and forwards in a corner with it's head between it's knees, desperately trying to convince itself, himself, that this was all a mistake. He picked up his friend's wand from where it had rolled from lifeless fingers, stepping carefully over the corpse, avoiding the creaking stair second from the top.

There was a strange sound and a soft glow coming from the nursery. His wand led the way, remarkably steady for what he had just seen. Sirius took a quick peek around the splintered door frame, snatching his head back before he'd even had time to process the sight. His mind processed what he had seen and his face took on a sudden new expression that could only be described as confused. He looked again.

"Ja... James?" the silvery form turned towards him, the ghost of his friend crouched over the corpse of his wife, mercurial tears streaking his face.

"Siri... I can't even close her eyes... can't even pick him up..." the sadness in the wraith's voice was like nothing Sirius had ever heard, and he rushed forwards, dropping to his knees at his friend's side. Baby Harry was sat on the far side of Lilly's rocking back and forth, tears streaming down his face and a keening cry coming from his mouth, oblivious to the new comer until he was picked up and cradled close to Sirius' chest.

"Hush little one" he tried to soothe, wanting to do nothing more than join in the keening wail of loss, ignoring everything until someone, anyone else came along and told him what to do. "Hush now Harry" Sirius tried to wipe the blood from the toddlers face, eliciting an even louder scream as his fingers brushed a new wound on Harry's forehead, snatching his hand back with a curse as it seemed to sting at his fingers.

"Shitting death, that... that's one hell of a curse scar." he muttered. He looked back at his friend, who was still staring sadly down at his wife. "James" nothing "James old boy, we have to go, he could come back any minute." Finally a response and the ghost turned a sad smile towards him.

"He's not coming back."

"What do you mean?" Harry quieted slightly in Sirius' arms and James gave a small shrug.

"Something Lilly was working on – a protection spell. It must have worked, because I came back just as the Volde-twat was casting the killing curse at Harry and the damn thing just bounced off and took him out instead."

Sirius gave a low whistle. "Wow."

"Yep."

"She was some lady, your Lilly." They both looked down at the redheaded corpse, grief clear on both their faces. Sirius reached forwards and gently closed her eyes. "We still have to go" he said apologetically, slowly standing and making his way to the door, gently cradling his god son.

"That she was" whispered James, rising and drifting after him "that she was."

The two friends made their way back through the house, Sirius doubly careful with his precious cargo. They paused over James' one-footed corpse.

"Damn." Said James looking down at himself and the myriad of injuries that had been inflicted on him. He remembered the over powered severing curse that had been aimed at his stomach that he had dived through the living room doorway to avoid that had taken his foot; the necrotic curse that had clipped his left shoulder probably would have killed him anyway, he could see the darkened flesh that had stopped it's progress up his neck when he had died; could remember the taste of the blood he had coughed up after a well aimed percutio had pierced his lung; other cuts and bruises showed that James Potter had gone down fighting, the smear of blood from the door-way to the stairs showing that he had continued even after the final result was clear.

"He really fucked me up, huh?" Sirius choked out a half sob, the tears that had been flowing silently down his cheeks since leaving the nursery glistening in the faint light from the street. "Hey hey now, no need for that." The ghost tried and failed to pat his friend on the shoulder, causing him to shiver involuntarily at the strange feeling of the ghostly appendage passing through him. He gave a small apologetic smile and a shrug. His gentle tone continued "Take a minute if you need to. I'm pretty sure Lilly left a couple of tampons upstairs you can enlarge if you're going to insist on being a giant pussy about all this."

Sirius stared at him, horrified expression on his face.

"What?" He shrugged defensively. "I'm the one that died." Sirius began shaking his head in disgust.

"Too soon."

"You're right. It's too soon for you to be a complete wreck before you've gotten my son to safety. Now dry your eyes princess, zip up your man suit and let's go before we get any more visitors this evening."

"Dick." Was Sirius' only reply as he brushed the tears from his face.

"Things that you like?" queried James and earning a choked laugh sob from Sirius as they arrived in the front room. They paused moment, re-assessing the damage.

"Shit" assessed James, now able to truly see the damage that had been caused.

"Shit" confirmed Sirius. An easily recognised shape burst through the ruined doorway waving an umbrella like a sword.

"Shit" whispered Hagrid taking in the scene of chaos, the ghost and the figure of Sirius cradling Harry. The three men locked eyes with each other and then looked back around the room.

"Shiiiiit" they all agreed.

"Outside" said James after a moment of reflection. They made their way out to stand in the wreckage of the garden, the three of them soaking in the utter carnage around them.

"Shit" choked Hagrid again, brushing tears away that were quickly replaced by more.

"Hagrid" said James "we think Volde-balls has gone, but he's still got people out there... we're going to need your help" he hesitated, casting a skeptical look over the half-giant, face blotchy with tears wondering if the gentle giant would be up to this big guns thought the ghost "Harry's going to need your help" he stressed, knowing how much the other man cared for his son. It had the desired affect and Hagrid's shoulders straightened and he flexed the umbrella between two hands that looked big enough and strong enough to tear people apart. A mean expression crossed his face.

"Wha' d'you need me t' do? Jus' you name it, an I'll do it"

"First go see Dumbledore..." Began James before being suddenly interrupted.

"Wait!" Sirius crouched and picked up a rock, "portus" the quick cast earned him a questioning glance from the other two. "Neville, they were the other side of the prophesy, they'll be after him too."

"Oh fuck! Get there" snapped James to Hagrid "tell them what happened here. Sirius and I are going into hiding, we'll come out when we can."

Rubeus Hagrid gave a decisive nod and snatched the thrown port key out of the air. His face was grim and angry as he disappeared in a swirl, leaving the man, the ghost and the baby in the garden alone.

Rubeus Hagrid reappeared with a gut-wrenching lurch half way along the drive to Longbottom manor and began sprinting, praying to every god he could think of that he wouldn't be too late. Lungs burning, he reached the steps leading up to the front door that was hanging off it's hinges, ignoring the slumped form in black robes and a white mask that lay crumpled on the bottom step. He could hear the screams coming from inside and launched himself up the stairs and through the doorway.

The entrance hall of Longbottom manor was a mess. The bodies of two more Death Eaters lay just inside and scorch marks decorated the walls next to the paintings that were alternating between screaming obscenities and pleading mercy. Two masked Death Eaters and the cackling form of Bellatrix Lestrange ignored the paintings as they cast torture curses at the huddled shapes of Frank and Alice Longbottom.

Hagrid roared with fury, ignoring his wand in favour of slamming a fist the size of a bowling ball into the head of the nearest masked figure who flew across the hall before stopping with a sickening crunch against one of the banister pillars. The other two turned and stared in shock at the furious giant, frozen for a deadly second. Seizing the advantage, Hagrid closed the distance between them with a desperate lunge.

"Rabastin! Die screaming, half-breed!" cried the last standing Death Eater Hagrid was now able to identify as Rudolphus Lestrange, as both Rudolphus and Bellatrix turned their wands on him.

Hagrid moved faster than he ever had before, still roaring his wordless battlecry, grabbing Bellatrix's hand and wand, jabbing it towards Rudolphus' face, even as he grabbed Rudolphus' hand and wand, yanking him forward and off balance. Suddenly there was silence.

The paintings looked on in shock as the giant many of them had watched carefully as he clumsily played with young Neville apparently holding the two remaining Death Eaters up. Hagrid tried to pull the wands from their hands, only to find them stuck. Bellatrix was looking in horror at the end of her wand that was now buried in her husband's left eye socket while Rudolphus let out a small moan of pain and horror.

Bellatrix Lestrange coughed in surprise. How had the clumsy half-breed managed to beat not just her, but her husband and his brother as well? She coughed again, feeling a sudden pain in her chest even as she tasted the bitter iron of blood in her mouth. She looked down to see her husbands wand, held now in broken fingers kept in place by Hagrid's oversized hand, disappearing into her chest. She felt a pain worse even than Voldemort's crucio as her lungs tried to breath around the tip of the wand and failed miserably.

"It's cold." Whimpered the most feared woman in magical Britain as blood trickled from her mouth, staring up into her husband's masked face.

"Bella" groaned her husband in shock and pain as his wife writhed in pain at the end of his wand. He groaned in pain again as her weight caused the wand to move agonisingly in his eye socket. Hagrid let go of Bellatrix's hand, allowing her limp body to slip to the floor her husband's wand still sticking from her chest. Now holding Rudolphus by broken wand hand and the scruff of his neck, he turned to regard the surviving Death Eater silently, the wand sticking comically from the hapless man's eye socket.

"Look out!" cried one of the paintings, "There's another one!"

"Avada Kedavra!" came the cry from behind him, even as Hagrid span and launched Rudolphus Lestrange towards the unknown assailant, throwing himself to one side. A green light flashed from the end of the man's wand and passed crackling through the space Hagrid had occupied a moment earlier as the human missile knocked his new assailant off his feet, leaving both of them crumpled at the base of the door frame.

Hagrid drew his trusty pink umbrella, swapping it to his left hand in favour of one of the wands on the floor before casting stunning spells at the three moaning bodies. He looked over his shoulder at the twitching forms of Frank and Alice. Somehow during the brief fight, Frank Longbottom had made his way over to his wife's side and was now cradling her tenderly in her arms, both of them shaking violently at the aftermath of the Cruciatus curse. Hagrid thought he saw Frank nod at him in thanks, but he could be too sure with the shaking.

The half giant moved cautiously towards the two stunned Death Eaters, tearing their robes into strips to use as bindings as he tied their hands securely. He frowned, recognising Barty Crouch Junior when he removed their masks, feeling just the slightist twinge of guilt as he flicked the wand in Rudolphus' eye further. He was glad that it wouldn't be himself that would have to sort out this mess.

As he looked out of the ruined doorway and down the driveway, he watched as the sun began rising over the nearby woods, casting a hopeful light against the chaos of the preceding darkness. Hagrid gave a tired sigh, turning towards the Longbottoms, approaching quietly for some reason not wanting to interrupt them now. He tried to cough quietly to attract their attention, but it came out closer to cannon blast than any thing else. Have to work on that one he thought to himself as they turned towards him. They both opened their mouths, trying to speak around the shakes that still plagued them. He shuffled his feet nervously.

"Helluva night, wannit?" he said awkwardly. Frank's jaw dropped open, working slowly up and down, an awkward rasping noise coming from his throat. After a moment Alice was making the strange noise as well, and Hagrid realised that they were laughing. He grinned sheepishly and allowed himself a small chuckle. "S'rry." He scratched the back of his neck "Never was sure wha' to say in these moments".

If anything, this seemed to make their laughter worse. "I'll go check on Nev for you, shall I?" Alice nodded gratefully, and Hagrid made his way upstairs. A short moment later, he was on his way back down, the still sleeping toddler cradled gently in his arms he passed him carefully to Frank, who seemed to be shaking marginally less than Alice, making sure that the child wasn't going to be dropped by nerve damaged fingers before making his way to the fireplace. Now this is gonna be an interestin' conversation he thought to himself as he grabbed a handful of Floo powder.

Outside the ruins of the Potter residence, Sirius and James looked at the empty space where Hagrid had been a moment before, each hoping that he would be able to reach the Longbottoms before any harm came to them. Sirius turned to the ghost of his friend, raising a quizzical eyebrow.

"Well then Prongs, what next?" James thought for a moment. Where could he send Sirius and his son that would keep them safe, both from Voldemort and his followers, but also from the others in the wizarding world that would want to have an influence on the rest of his life. He smiled as an idea came to him, they always say if you want to hide something, hide it in plain sight. James gave his best friend a ghostly grin.

"London."

The following evening, Rubeus Hagrid, Alastor Moody, Minerva McGonagall and the small number of the Order who were not involved in the post-Voldemort clean up operation were clustered in Dumbledore's office, where the headmaster was pacing angrily back and forth.

"What do you mean you can't tell me where Sirius took Harry?!" Protested Dumbledore, amazed that Hagrid was refusing to tell him "They could be in danger! Just look what happened to Frank and Alice!" Despite himself, the ancient leader of the Order of the Phoenix was beginning to get annoyed at his most loyal friend. Hagrid, meanwhile, had an expression that was an interesting combination of misery and defiance.

"They din' say did they?!" He said for what felt like the hundredth time.

As soon as the Aurors and medi-wizards had arrived at Longbottom Manor, he had floo'd Dumbledore who had joined him there moments later before apparating them both to the headmaster's office at Hogwarts. Throughout the day, reports had been coming in about the apparent defeat of Voldemort at the hands of the infant Harry Potter and Rubeus Hagrid had been awake for over thirty-six hours, and was now both mentally and physically exhausted. The moment he had told Dumbledore that Sirius had disappeared with Harry and the spirit of the departed James, he had become extremely irate, determined to try and find one or all of them using the strange and often noisy contraptions on the shelves of his office, so far with no effect, and no further reports of either of them could be heard.

"Any word from Remus?" Shaking heads all round prompted a further sigh of irritation "What about the Aurors – Moody, has there been any development on determining which spells were cast at Godric's Hollow?" Moody frowned, not liking the fact that he was now the focus of the headmaster's irritation. He cleared his throat.

"Not completely, there was no sign of Lilly or James' wands, so far we've assumed Black took them." Again the headmaster's mouth twisted in displeasure, an expression of annoyance on Moody's face as well at Sirius having made his job that much harder. "Got the other one though. It looks like there was a duel – against James no doubt, ties in with what Hagrid told us" he said, nodding towards the half-giant who was nearly asleep on his feet "ended with a killing curse; some dark magic traces in the front room but nothing surprising for a duel against You-Know-Who. Two more killing curses, presumably against Lilly, must have missed with the first one and hit her with the second – I guess he wasn't in the mood for another duel after killing James. Anyway, that was the last one he fired, maybe Black arrived in time to hit him in the back, but there's no sign of it."

"Nothing else?" asked Dumbledore desperately. Moody shuffled awkwardly, hating being asked for an answer he couldn't provide.

"Reports of trace amounts of some unknown magic. Nothing else yet, but the Unspeakables are looking into it as we speak."

Dumbledore sighed, resigned to the fact that, for now, Harry Potter and Sirius Black were missing.

A loud banging came from the window interrupting the tense silence. Dumbledore moved towards it, letting in a rather damp owl, deftly snagging the letter tied to its leg as it flew past to join Fawkes on his perch. The phoenix pulled his head from under his wing and looked at the owl suspiciously before shuffling along to make space and tucking his head under his wing again.

"What is it?" Asked McGonagall moving forward curiously. Dumbledore looked at the unknown owl, then back at the parchment. It was suddenly snatched from his hand by an irate Alistor Moody who threw it quickly onto the desk, glaring at it with both his real and prosthetic eye while casting several diagnostic charms on it. Dumbledore rolled his eyes at the antics of the paranoid Auror.

"Safe now?" he asked, with a tinge of sarcasm. Moody nodded and allowed Dumbledore to approach and open the letter.

"It's from Sirius!" exclaimed the old wizard excitedly, and everyone crowded round the desk to read over Dumbledore's shoulder.

_Dear Albus and Order members._

_I am writing this at the request of the spirit of James Potter and the words that follow are mostly his._

_This evening, Lilly, Harry and I were attacked by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. We had entrusted Peter as our secret keeper, believing that Sirius would be too obvious a choice and that the not-so-obvious choice of Peter would give us an extra layer of protection. Sadly, we were mistaken. Peter betrayed us to the Dark Lord and Lilly and I are dead._

_As soon as I had died, I returned as a ghost and was able to watch the Dark Lord cast the killing curse at Harry only for it to bounce off and hit Voldemort. I do not know how, though I Sirius and I will continue to investigate. I do not know whether he still survives in some form, but I believe his physical form is gone. Harry now bears a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt on his forehead unlike that I have ever seen. Though it does not seem to be troubling him at present, both Sirius and I will continue to monitor his recovery closely._

_It is with great regret that I must inform you that there has been no sign of Lilly, and I feel that we will not see her again in this world._

_I know you will not like what I am about to say, however it is my decision to make as Harry's father, and it is what I had discussed with Lilly before her passing and is supported by Sirius. This is what we both wished to happen should both of us fall in this war and is in accordance with both our last wills and testaments and can be verified by the goblins at Gringotts._

_My son and heir, Harry James Potter, shall be raised by his godfather and lawful guardian, Sirius Orion Black, assisted by Remus John Lupin, until he is of age to take position as head of the Potter family._

_While what I am asking of you next is not part of our wills, I hope you will accept it as my final wish. Sirius will go into hiding until he can determine that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has disappeared for good and that it is safe. In this he has, as always, my absolute trust to do what is right by my son._

_I would like to say a final thank you to you all, for your friendship, smiles, and company throughout both mine and Lilly's life times. Though they were cut far too short, the people who we have met along the way have provided us with memories we could never dream of trading for more time, and we know we could trust all of you with the task ahead of Sirius. A special thank you to Hagrid, for being there at our end, and for always being there before it._

_I hope to one day see you all again, in this life or the next. _

_So long, my friends._

_James Potter._

With a deep sigh, Dumbledore slumped in to his chair, covering his eyes with a wrinkled, age spotted hand, unable to see the tears that many were letting fall unheeded. Hagrid wept unashamedly into a handkerchief the size of a table cloth and even Moody swiped once or twice at his real eye, muttering darkly about allergies.

Three hours earlier:

"Do you think that'll do it?" pondered James, looking over Sirius' shoulder as they got to the end of the letter.

Remus had joined them shortly after their arrival and had been caught up on the events of the evening in short order, joining them in the room Sirius had rented in a cheap muggle hotel about five minutes walk from Diagon Alley. They were now gathered around the battered table, discarded balls of crumpled paper and a half finished bottle of fire-whiskey showing the progress that had been made so far with their missive to the Order. Harry slept peacefully in the middle of one of the two lumpy beds that had been spelled into a semblance of comfort.

Sirius carefully kept his head down, staring at the paper in front of him. He gave a brief nod. Remus reached a shaking hand out for his glass of whiskey, knocking it back in a single gulp. He coughed hoarsely.

"Yeah, I reckon that will do it." James drifted around the table and looked at his two best friends. He rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Well at least Harry wont be left wanting for a softer, feminine touch with you two blubbering like school girls all the time."

Remus coughed again and swiped at his eyes.

"You know one thing I won't miss about James?" He asked Sirius, prompting a raised, questioning eyebrow "he could be a real prick sometimes." Sirius' nodded, tears still streaming down his face.

"No argument here."

"Hey, don't speak ill of the dead. Also I'm right here." James chided softly.

"He's got a point" muttered Sirius "even in death he can be a real prick."

"Fuck you both very much, let's see how cheerful you are after you've just been killed." The three men descended into a miserable silence, Sirius pouring three glasses of firewhiskey out. He slid one a little too enthusiastically along the table to Remus, who caught it just as it slid off the edge, pushing one across to James and pouring himself an extra large one that slopped onto the table.

"To James and Lilly" he mumbled, trying to reign in his emotions "the best friends a man could ask for."

"James 'n' Lilly" repeated Lupin, clinking Sirius' glass with his own before bumping it against the one on the table in front of James.

"Me and Lil's" said James. Sirius and Remus flickered from grief to amusement and sniggered as James' ghostly fingers went straight through the glass and he cursed in frustration. "Oh yeah, fricking hilarious" he snapped at them, serving only to increase their amusement. He opened his mouth wide and lowered his head over the glass, closing it and then lifting his head again with a sigh and a shake of his head. "Fan-fucking-tastic. Dead and I can't even drown my sorrows."

"Just like your bachelor party" said Remus with a small smile "shots without using your hands."

The three of them smiled at the memory and Remus tied the almost forgotten letter to the rental-owl's leg before sending it off. The rest of the night was spent in a blur of hazy plans for the future and reminiscences on the past. The highlight for James was discovering that as soon as a bottle of fire-whiskey was finished, it's presence also existed briefly in ghost form, allowing him to join in the drinking. The highlight for Sirius was discovering that ghosts can vomit due to too much alcohol just as well as the living – Remus might also have found this amusing had not the ghostly puke hit him square in the chest and passed straight through him.

**Daily Prophet**

_**Dark Lord Defeated**_

_**Infant Saviour of the Wizarding World Missing**_

_**Bethsemene Halfbrush**_

_**2/11/81**_

_It is with great pleasure that we at the Daily Prophet can tell you that the war against the Dark Lord V. and his Death Eater followers is finally over!_

_Sources at the Ministry of Magic have confirmed that late on the evening of 31 October, 1981, the Dark Lord met his end. Though details remain limited, so far we can confirm that on the evening of Halloween, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named approached the house of James Potter and Lilly Potter nee Evans, and their infant son Harry with the intention of murdering all those who resided within. The house, located in Godric's Hollow, had been protected by the Fidelius charm, which should have ensured their safety, the Potters chose Peter Pettigrew, a friend since their first days at Hogwarts. Sadly, Pettigrew betrayed the Potters to his master, who attacked without mercy in the late hours of the 31st._

_While an exact account of the evening in question is unavailable, we can now confirm that both James and Lilly Potter, and Lord V. perished that night, the only survivor being Harry James Potter, aged one year and three months. While official channels are providing only scant information, unnamed sources within the Ministry have confirmed that the killing curse was cast at the infant Potter, a curse which he has, amazingly, survived._

_Albus Dumbledore, one of the bastions of the fight against the Dark Forces, has confirmed the child's survival and though he has refused, so far, to reveal Harry Potter's location, he did have this to say:_

_"It is with great sadness that I must confirm the loss of James and Lilly Potter, good students and better friends. This sadness is tempered only by the knowledge that in their final moments, they contributed to the defeat of the Dark Lord who has plagued our land for too long. They leave behind their only son, who is currently being cared for by close friends in accordance with the parent's final wishes."_

_When questioned as to the defeat of the Dark Lord and the continuing celebrations that have caused official obliviator teams a significant amount of work, Minister for Magic Millicent Bagnold, said "I assert our inalienable right to party" and would not be drawn further on the matter._

_Other friends of the Potters, most notably Sirius Black, childhood friend and best man to James Potter, godfather to Harry Potter, leads this reporter to speculate that Harry Potter is now being raised by the heir to the Black family, though so far we have been unable to confirm or deny this theory._

_In other news, the half-giant Rubeus Hagrid, groundskeeper at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is being hailed as a hero by the noble Longbottom family. Shortly after the attack on the Potter residence, Mr Hagrid arrived at the Longbottom manor to find them under attack by four Death Eaters. Despite never having completed his formal magical education, the groundskeeper leapt to action, killing one and incapacitating the remaining three in short order._

_A spokesperson for the Longbottom released the following statement:_

_"In the early hours of November 1st, six Death Eaters attacked Longbottom Manor, seeking answers about the disappearance of their master, suspecting that Frank and Alice Longbottom would hold information as staunch opponents of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. When no information was forth coming, the Cruciatus Curse was used to a degree that permanent damage was highly likely. It is with great relief that we can report that Rubeus Hagrid, a long time friend to both Frank and Alice arrived and, with no thought to personal safety, was able to subdue the Death Eaters until Ministry officials could arrive."_

_Ministry sources praised Hagrid for his quick action in saving the Longbottoms, while staff at St Mungos confirmed that Frank and Alice Longbottom, both Aurors, were currently undergoing treatment for extended exposure to the Cruciatus curse but were expected to make a full recovery._

_Though names of all the captured Death Eaters have not yet been released, it can be confirmed that Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black and her husband Rudolphus Lestrange, have been captured while his brother Rabastin Lestrange is now deceased. The fourth Death Eater remains as yet unidentified._

_A/N: Well that's chapter one, again, please read and review. While I appreciate the black humour of the recently departed and shell-shocked may be slightly off, a) it's just a story and b) we all deal with grief differently and who's to say how we all deal with death until it happens to us?_


	2. Chapter 2

Three days later, Sirius, Remus and the ghost of James stood around the bed that Harry was resting on, gazing back up at them with the open curiosity. A collection of books on curse scars that Sirius had salvaged from the Black family library were scattered across the bed in various stages of reading.

"That scar is not normal" muttered Sirius as Remus continued to cast diagnostic spells.

"Thank you for pointing out the blindingly obvious" muttered James, scratching his chin absentmindedly as he perused the books that had been left open for him.

Remus sighed, having cast all the spells he knew and a few that he had just researched, sitting carefully on the bed next to Harry, who promptly crawled towards him and giggled as the werewolf picked him up and placed him in his lap and began tickling him. He turned towards his friends.

"Well it's undoubtedly dark, but I just don't know what it is. None of the scar removal or healing spells seem to be having any effect... I'm afraid I'm stumped."

"Huh" was the helpful input from Sirius "what about getting Dumbledore involved? He might know something or someone who can help." The three men thought about it for a moment.

"No." Said James after a moments contemplation. "Not yet anyway, he'll be busy with the post war clean up, and to be honest I think he'd probably try to take control of Harry as some sort of poster child. He doesn't need that at the moment and to be honest I think it's best if we keep our heads down until we know a bit more about what's going on."

Sirius and Remus nodded in agreement and the trio of Marauders lapsed into silence.

"Memory charm on a healer after they've had a look?" suggested Remus.

"I dated a girl who worked at St Mungo's for a bit, she might be willing to help." Sirius saw the skeptical looks he was getting from his friends. "What?"

"We all know how that one ended and there's no way in hell syphilis Sue is coming anywhere near my son" stated James dryly.

"She doesn't have syphilis any more!" came the protest.

"Yeah but she's hardly likely to want to do you any favours as you were the one who gave it to her in the first place" sniggered Remus.

"How many times do I have to say this, SHE GAVE IT TO ME!"

"You're only lying to yourself old boy" said Remus with a smile.

"Me thinks the lady doth protest too much" James responded with a wink at the werewolf, "besides, the answer is still no."

"Fine" huffed his friend, "what's your bright idea."

James opened his mouth to reply before shutting it again resignedly and shrugging. "Dunno. Lets give it a bit and see what happens."

The ghost of the father sat next to his son, still giggling happily in Remus' lap. He reached out a ghostly finger to trace the scar on Harry's forehead and the infant immediately let out an unhappy wail.

"Oh nice one _dad_" snapped Remus pulling Harry away from James' hand. The hand stayed attached to Harry's forehead "I'd just gotten him happy again. Take your hand off, it's hurting him."

A confused expression passed across James ghostly countenance.

"Errr... I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?" queried Sirius. The ghostly finger had disappeared completely into Harry's forehead and the rest of the hand seemed to be following it.

James' eyes were wide with a combination of shock and horror that was soon reflected on the other two men. Harry continued to scream.

"Oh fuck" whispered James, now up to his wrist "Fuck." Louder this time, almost up to his elbow "Fuck fuck fuck fuck FUUUUUUUU" and he disappeared into his son, sucked in through the scar like a tea-towel up a vacuum cleaner. Harry abruptly stopped crying. Sirius and Remus sat in shocked silence.

"Well..." began Sirius trailing off, at a loss as to what to say. It wasn't every day that you saw the ghost of your best friend sucked into his own son's forehead through the curse scar of the man that had killed you.

"That was unexpected" was the only contribution Remus had.

"Umm" said James. He looked around. Everything was white. Not a white room, no floor, no ceiling, no walls, just white, everywhere.

"James!" The cry caught his attention and he turned.

"Lilly!" He rushed towards his wife who was cradling their son close to her chest. The tall imposing figure standing near her could only be one person.

Voldemort snarled and swung towards him, hand outstretched, pointing a wand directly at the advancing James, spitting out the most feared of all curses.

"Avada Kadavra" nothing.

Everything stopped. He tried again. Again, nothing. Voldemort looked up, confusion a strange expression to see on the snake like visage.

"Huh." he tried again. Still nothing. The most feared Dark Lord of the past century began to look if anything, a little sheepish. "Well this has never happened to me before."

"Apparently it affects up to 20% of all men at some point." Said James, resuming his angry advance.

"What?" Voldemort's confusion continued as he stared at his approaching nemesis before realisation dawned, shortly joined by an expression of distaste. "Oh, a penis joke. How incredibly pueri-" He was cut off as James sank his fist into the Dark Lord's stomach, wind exiting in a sudden rush as the tall figure doubled over. James followed up with a left cross to the side of the head, then a knee to the nose.

Whimpers of pain and protest came from Voldemort as the Potter father continued with the beating, unleashing all the rage and hurt at losing his wife and his life in a brutal display of violence against their murderer. In the back ground Lilly looked on with a savage expression of triumph even as she cooed platitudes to the son cradled in her arms.

"It's ok sweetheart, Daddy's beating the snot out of the bad man."

Voldemort was now on the floor, James raining kicks into the prostrate form, occasionally pulling him up by the scruff of his robes to punch him in the face while screaming near incoherent abuse. The Dark Lord's limp arms had flailed uselessly against the attack, so used to having magic that by the time he had remembered that he could use physical power as well it was too late and then they dropped limply by his side. The body began to fade, slowly at first, becoming almost see through, the disappearing quickening as the beating progressed. Finally James stood, raising his foot and stamping down hard on Voldemort's head. His foot went straight through, leaving him standing, breathing deeply, anger still showing on his face as the figure of Voldemort disappeared for good.

James turned towards his wife and son. The anger disappeared in a flash as he ran a hand through his hair, stamping his trade-mark grin across his face.

"Hi honey!" he strode towards them, wrapping his arms around them both, kissing his wife before gazing down at his son. The scar was still present here, wherever here was, but it looked less... angry than it had before.

Lilly stared up at him, an uncertain expression on her face

"What happens now?" she asked.

Sirius and Remus were on the far side of the room from the bed Harry was still resting on. Shortly after James had disappeared, Harry's silence had been broken with lung bursting wailing that put their combined silencing charms to the test, writhing in Remus' arms to such an extent that he could no longer be held. They had placed him on the bed and watched helplessly as the twisting and turning continued.

Their concern turned to horror and they began to back away as the screams became something more, heard on a level that made the glass in the room vibrate and set their teeth on edge, at once both high pitched and so low that it was below the normal level of hearing. Harry began to rise off the bed, twisting and turning with snake like movements and then dark smoke began to leak out of the scar. It started slowly, getting faster and thicker. The two men struggled against a wind that was pushing them back away from the toddler, desperate to help and powerless to do anything.

The smoke thickened, darkening the whole room, bringing with it the same stench that Sirius recognised from Godric's Hollow and the Black family home after his cousin's had been playing a particularly heavy session of 'fun with the dark arts'. He reached out a hand, grabbing hold of Remus to keep track of him even as they lost sight of one another, the darkness so total that he couldn't tell when his eyes were open or closed.

Just as suddenly, it was gone.

Remus and Sirius stared across the room. The ghost of James was stood next to the bed, one arm around his wife, both of them smiling down at their now peaceful son. Lilly glanced across at them and smiled at their open mouths and wondrous expressions.

"Would you two like a moment?" She asked. Their expressions turned to confusion as they looked at each other and then down to where their hands were still tightly clasped together before snatching them back to their sides.

"Er... what..." asked Sirius.

"Er... how..." queried Remus. Lilly grinned at them, before turning back to her son who smiled anf waved a chubby arm up at her.

"Well, you remember the Horcruxes that Dumbledore mentioned? The keep a part of the soul tethered here to prevent death?" Confusion remained on Sirius' face even as a Remus' became more thoughtful.

"No"

"Yes" they replied at the same time. James rolled his eyes and gave them a simplified explanation.

"Killing me allowed Volde-balls to make another Horcrux and place it in Harry's head even though his body was destroyed. Lilly here" he gave his wife a squeeze "was somehow caught up in it and was able to protect Harry for the last couple of days while he was trying to get control of Harry."

Remus and Sirius wore similarly horrified expressions as the story went on.

"When I touched his scar, that same connection pulled me in and allowed me to fight snake-eyes-McTwat-face and when he was beaten, he was gone but so was the connection tying me and Lils into Harry's mind."

"Shit" came the awed whisper from Sirius and Remus.

"Shit" agreed Lilly.

"Shit" confirmed James. They all gathered around the bed, pausing and gazing down at Harry, the scar now the normal, healthy pink of fresh skin. A loud banging at the door interrupted them.

"Shiiiiit" they said in unison.

"So" began Lilly, sat at the table of a new hotel room, slightly larger and more importantly a long way from the angry owner of the last one who had had to be obliviated after complaining about the overly loud noises coming from their room "what are you two going to do now?"

"Us?" asked Sirius indicating himself and Remus "Surely you mean 'us'" he said and waved an arm to encompass the two ghosts as well.

James shook his head sadly.

"We talked about this last night while you guys were asleep. As much as we'd love to stay, the hold on the two of us left when we got Voldemort out of Harry and we can feel..." he searched for the right words before giving up "whatever's next pulling at us." Lilly nodded sadly in agreement.

"Oh" said Remus.

"Shit" began Sirius.

"Not that again" interrupted Lilly before the word was all the way out of his mouth, resulting in the wounded expression of a kicked puppy being plastered across Sirius' face.

They sat for a moment in silence.

"For now I think it would be best if you stayed in hiding" Began James. His friends nodded dejectedly. "There's just too much risk with going out in public at the moment and we don't know what the remaining Death Eaters are up to."

"Do you want us to let Dumbledore know what we're up to?" asked Remus. Lilly and James shared looks before a slight shake of Lilly's head gave the answer.

"No" she replied "let him know that you'll be going in to hiding and that you intend to stay that way until you can be certain that it's safe. We'll leave you to make the decision when Harry is a little older as to when or if you go back to the wizarding world."

"Wait, what?!" interrupted Sirius. "What do you mean 'if'?!"

"Sirius" pointed out Remus gently "Harry is the only person ever to have survived a killing curse and the result of that was that the strongest Dark Lord in nearly a hundred years was defeated. What do you think will happen when he goes out in public?" Sirius mouth moved up and down, trying to form arguments before realisation dawned.

"Oh."

"Yep" agreed James "not exactly how we see our son being raised. We still expect you to teach him about magic and we can't imagine two better people to teach him as he grows up, but... it may be worth keeping him out of the limelight for as long as possible, or at least limiting his exposure as much as possible."

They all nodded in agreement.

"I can point you in the right direction for a few charms that will help you hide from trackers and finders too." Said Lilly. "They'll keep any followers of the Dark Dickhead guessing, but they'll probably interfere with Dumbledore's trackers as well. Which isn't necessarily too bad." She added as an after thought.

As the day wore on, plans were formed and discarded, Lilly and James laying out guidelines for how they hoped their son would be raised, help coming mostly from Remus, with the occasional, usually soon to be discarded suggestion from Sirius. By the time the sky was darkening in the window, the plans were complete and the spectres of James and Lilly were fading.

Tears both living and dead trickled down cheeks, James earning a sharp dig in the ribs from his wife after making another comment about his friend's femininity, twinned with the observation that his cheeks were also damp. She gazed down at her son, tracing a careful finger along his cheek, the sad expression on her face showing that she wished she could hold him one last time.

"Take care of them for me Harry, they're idiots but they're good men under it all." Sirius sniffed loudly, brushing away more tears and choking out a half-hearted protest. Lilly turned to them and wagged a now near non-existent finger at them "and you two" she warned in a dangerous tone "you take care of my son, because I swear to all that's holy and everything that's magical, if you fuck this up, I will come back and haunt the ever-loving shit out of you." They gulped and nodded their understanding. Her expression changed so fast it was almost impossible to believe as she gifted them with one last smile. "Take care boys. All of you." and slowly faded into nothing.

James wasn't much more substantial and he raised a hand in a final wave to the friends that had stood by him for so long.

"What she said. Doubled." They smiled weakly back at him and again nodded in understanding. "See you..." James' voice trailed off as he too disappeared, leaving the two friends alone with Harry who had pushed himself into a sitting position and was rocking slowly while holding onto his feet, a cherubic smile on his face.

"Shit" sighed Sirius softly, sinking onto the bed opposite Harry's, staring at the boy, elbow on knee and hand cupping his face as he contemplated his new future.

"Shit" agreed Remus as he sat next to his friend, mimicking his pose.

"Shit" burbled baby Harry, uttering his first word. The colour drained from the two grown men's faces as they stared at the cursing toddler before their heads snapped around the room in panic, checking for the reappearance of an angry mother ghost. Their eyes met again, matching expressions of horror.

"Shit" they both said.

"Shit" agreed a happy baby Harry.

A/N: So I've taken the last part out of this chapter as it makes more sense to have it at the start of the next one. I loaded this one in a bit of a rush before I went away from the weekend and I've just gone through to re-check for mistakes though as I'm working without a beta there are probably still a few in there. Any one wanting to volunteer for the post, PM me.

Cheers for reading and please review! Next chapter hopefully up this afternoon/end of the week latest.


	3. Chapter 3

_So for those who read the full Ch2 before I cut it in half, the end of that is now the beginning of this. There are a few minor changes to what was written, but that was then and this is now. It also runs to the end of Harry's first week at school, so there's a bit more meat to it. I'm going to try and avoid chapters as short as the previous one, but no promises. Enjoy!_

June 1991.

In a large dining room in a well furnished dining room, Sirius, Remus and Harry sat around a large table with the Gringotts representative for their accounts. Having grown tired of bouncing from hotel to hotel and from city to city in the first year after the death of Lilly and James, they had finally settled in Belgravia. Sirius' arguments for luxury had met with surprisingly little resistance once Remus had seen the house and they had since turned it in to true home for Harry, who was now firm friends with several of the other younger families around the estate. While some were initially suspicious of the two men raising the young child on their own, they soon had their conservative fears allayed by Sirius' philandering ways, while concerned mothers had were relieved by Remus' responsible nature and the clear signs of love and affection both men held for the boy.

Behind the closed doors of their home, Sirius and Remus had started his magical education early, beginning as soon as it manifested when Harry had tried climbing the banisters along the stair well and fallen up, bumping happily against the ceiling shortly before his fourth birthday. Despite a few close calls with public displays of magic and the obvious limitations of not having a wand, Harry was now well versed in the magical theories behind the topics that would make up most of his first few years of education at Hogwarts. Sirius, initially averse to turning his godson into a bit too much of a bookworm, had quickly seen the merits when Remus pointed out that the reason James had been able to devote so much of his time to the Marauders was because most of the academic work was simply re-capping that which had already been covered by private tutors.

"This decision is not supposed to be an easy one to make" Sirius pointed out tiredly at the breakfast table, discarded plates between him, Remus and Harry, who sat staring at them with an earnest expression behind his glasses. The goblin Crackclaw was sat at the table as well, taking notes with an unreadable expression "We will continue teach you how to use magic regardless and we can hire muggle tutors as well to keep you up to date with your non-magical studies, so whichever one you choose, you will still learn the other." Harry rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hands, the same arguments for and against each option buzzing around his head.

"So I go to Hogwarts then I stay there through the term, back here at holidays and all my friends here won't have a clue what I'm doing there."

"No, but you'll make new friends who are also going to be wizards and witches, and you'll probably be ahead of some of them who haven't had any lessons already." Answered Remus.

"Do they have rugby?"

"No, they have quidditch" countered Sirius, though having been the one who took Harry to the game that initially sparked his interest in the muggle sport, he could well understand the appeal of the game and would certainly miss watching his godson playing in the local junior team "and they probably have a local club up near Hogwarts you could join there too" he added as an afterthought

"So to sum up, either I can go to Hogwarts to learn magic, come back here at holidays and catch up on non-magical studies and with my friends and play quidditch instead of rugby, or I go to a normal school, learn magic on the side, keep my friends, play rugby at school and probably play quidditch at a local club here if I want to" he turned Sirius' own comment back at him with a wink. "That about right?"

The arguments for and against going to Hogwarts had been going around the house the three of them shared for two days now. Each time Sirius and Remus would swap sides, giving the most compelling arguments for either going to Hogwarts or going to a muggle school until both were in two minds themselves as to which one they thought would be the best choice.

"Yeees" dragged out Remus after a moment's thought as he got up to clear the dishes into the kitchen "that pretty much sums it all up."

They were interrupted by a banging at the window as the post owl arrived. Harry got up and went to open the window, grateful for a distraction no matter how brief, untying the post and casting a casual glance at the headline of the _Daily Prophet_. He froze.

"Oh fuck me." He stood staring at the pictures on the front page and the hard to miss headline that screamed out at him.

"Harry! What have we... what is it?" Began Sirius, concern replacing the disciplinarian tone as he noted the horror on Harry's face. He took the wordlessly offered paper and read the headline, all colour draining from his face "Oh fuck me" came the slightly louder curse.

"Sirius!" Scolded Remus as he came back from the kitchen and took the paper from his friend "fine example you... Oh fuck me."

The goblin looked on, his amusement at their reaction tempered by the sight of the headline that screamed from the front page above two photos that hadn't been seen in public for nearly a decade, and he joined his hosts as they spread the paper on the table and crowded round so all could read:

_**Lestrange and Pettigrew Escape from Azkaban!**_

_15 June 1991_

_After almost ten years imprisonment following their master's fall and their subsequent capture, Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black and Peter Pettigrew have escaped from the island prison of Azkaban. Previously thought to be inescapable, their cells were discovered empty during a routine check in the early hours of this morning and no trace of them has been found on the island._

_While no comment has been received from the prison itself, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge has assured the public that the full resources of the Ministry are behind their re-capture, while Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour has warned the public that they should be avoided if sighted and considered extremely dangerous._

_Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Amelia Bones issued a statement announcing an immediate investigation into their escape and a re-iteration of the dangerous nature of the escapees._

Harry skimmed the article over Remus' shoulder. It went on to describe their initial capture, Bellatrix's in the aftermath of Hagrid's heroics and Pettigrew's on the revelation that he had been the Secret Keeper for Harry's parents.

As they finished reading the article the each drifted back to their chairs, each to their own thoughts until Harry broke the silence.

"Well..." he began looking at his godfather and his fellow guardian. They both gave him stony looks and he realised he knew what they were both thinking. "Muggle school?"

"Muggle school." They both confirmed in unison.

"At last!" sighed Crackclaw in relief, glad that this part of the assignment was finally over. "I've been at negotiations between clans that have been fighting for centuries that were finished faster than this."

"Maybe" agreed Harry "but we weren't allowed to make our arguments with knives and axes." The goblin gave a savage grin.

"Fair point. This might be easier to clean up, but it's no where near as interesting." Harry grinned himself and conceded the point as Crackclaw continued "Now, lets draft a statement for the press and we can call it a day."

_Ministry Stumped by Fugitives_

_Infant Saviour and Guardians to Remain in Hiding_

_by Rita Skeeter_

_1 July 1991_

_With still no sign of the escaped convicts, the Wizarding world was rocked by further news today. With the exception of the occasional unsubstantiated sighting the-Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter, has not been seen since the night his parents were killed by the fallen Dark Lord. This reporter is now saddened to reveal that the decision has been made by his guardians to keep the young saviour away from the Wizarding World for a few more years._

_In a statement released by his Gringotts representatives, Potter's guardians, childhood friends of his parents Remus Lupin and Sirius Black cited the recent escape of Lestrange and Pettigrew as contributing factors to their decision._

"_We have come to this difficult choice in consultation with Harry and in accordance with his parents final wishes with the primary aim of keeping Harry safe. Be assured that Harry will most certainly be continuing his learning of magic and of the magical world, however at this time we must prioritise his safety over everything else and to that end we shall be remaining out of the public eye for now. We will, of course, re-evaluate this decision in the future and will continue to act in the best interests of Harry and with his full support."_

"I did warn you that this wasn't going to be easy" pointed out Remus from his seat on the bench in the magically expanded and heavily warded basement. Harry pushed himself tiredly to his feet and staggered over to pick up his wand where it lay several feet away.

"Well it was _your _idea, so of course it wasn't going to be easy." He conceded Harry's rebuttal with a nod and a faint smile, while Sirius just sat there grinning at his god-son's discomfort.

Immediately after the decision had been reached over the location of Harry's schooling and the news of Bellatrix and Peter's escape, Remus had insisted that Harry learn to defend himself. As soon as the idea had been mentioned, Sirius had agreed, taking it one step further to suggest both magical and muggle means of self defence. And then things took a turn for the worse: Remus had left a journal on the development of magical tools and artefacts in the last century open on the coffee table at an article on Time-Turners and so the last two weeks had been magically lengthened to include the maximum of six hours per day. During this time, his new instructors had taken it in turns to throw him around the newly designated practice area in the magically expanded and reinforced basement and as far as Harry could determine, the only thing he had learned were how many previously unknown muscles could ache at the same time as well as how woefully unprepared he was for any fight ahead of him. Oh, and just what both his arms breaking at the same time sounded/felt like due to a particularly vicious Egyptian curse - not a fun experience immediately after breakfast. Nor was being knee-capped by a rather brutal kick just before lunch on the same day. Just in case he forgot what they felt like, he was reminded on a regular basis, shortly followed by the always unpleasant feeling of magical healing, all of which was usually accompanied by his mostly internal monologue screaming obscenities at his god-father, guardian and occasionally one of the instructors.

At the moment it was the elderly asian looking wizard's turn to educate him in the different ways he could be beaten by magic. He had been hired through one of Sirius' less than legitimate contacts and had introduced himself as Chon Something-Unpronouncable and after Harry, Sirius and even Remus failed to correctly pronounce his name gave up and said "Just call me Mr Smith."

"I'm eleven years old" he protested with a grumble "I'm not supposed to know how to defend myself from your cousin the psycho uber-bitch and that traitorous cock-holster you were friends with at school."

"Minus five points for swearing" said Remus with a small smile, a flick of his wand taking five points from the score board at the end of the room. Sirius had set it up to rub in how much time Harry was being knocked down. After the first morning his instructors had relented and started giving him five points for every ten seconds he lasted. He was still a long way behind.

"Plus five for each insult for accuracy and inventiveness though" Sirius responded with a wave of his own wand and a wink to the pretty blonde in sweat pants and sports top who was waiting her turn in the ring with Harry.

Sam Jackson had been Remus' hire and came highly recommended from several sources, though he had struggled to hide his surprise when the ex-special forces Israeli wizard turned out to be an attractive, if heavily scarred, blonde woman. The various scars that could be seen disappearing under her clothes and even the one slashing down from under her left eye across her mouth to tip of her chin and twisted her lips into a permanent wry smile did nothing to hide the fact that she was stunningly beautiful and the result was that Sirius had been shamelessly flirting with her to absolutely no effect since her arrival.

"But minus five more for the loss" Sam added, ignoring Sirius and passing Harry a gratefully accepted bottle of water from the chiller by her side.

"Plus five for lasting more than ten seconds, plus five more for not being as much of an idiot as your godfather." Was the input from Mr Smith in his cockney-accented English that amused Harry whenever he heard his instructor speak having initially expected the slight man to speak with an accent from the Far East and not the East End. Harry bowed gratefully in his direction having learned early that it was better to pay him too much respect than not enough.

"Thank you Mr Smith" The older man nodded in response and motioned him to take up his position on the mats again.

Harry grit his teeth and once more took up his position. If Peter and Bellatrix did decide to come after him, he thought to himself, he wouldn't be going down without a fight. He recognised the spell issuing from the end of Mr John's wand and threw himself to one side, ignoring the twinge in the recently repaired dislocated shoulder. It wouldn't be a long fight, he conceded, he stood about as much chance of surviving as a shot of tequila did at a frat party, but there would be a fight.

September 1991

By the time he started The Royal College of St Peter, or Westminster School as it was more commonly known, Harry was ready for a break. For the past two and a half months he had spent the majority of his time in the basement, either dodging Mr John's spells or Sam's punches, kicks or strikes from other areas of her body. While he had progressed significantly in both magical and non-magical defence, he still considered his greatest victory to be successfully arguing that Remus and Sirius should be training as well with the result that the two older men were also looking forward to a break from training, and the image of Sirius being repeatedly thrown across the room by the slight blonde would keep him smiling for a long time to come.

At 9 am on Monday morning, Harry was sat in a small class room, one of ten young boys waiting for his name to be called by a pretty in a bookish sort of way teacher who had introduced herself as Miss Watkins. Harry instantly dreaded introducing her to Sirius and Remus, knowing that she was exactly the type of woman Remus had been looking for as smart, attractive-in-a-bookish-sort-of-way, and that Sirius would immediately recognise this as well and proceed to sabotage it in as many amusing ways as he could think of.

"Harry Black?" while there was no way he'd be calling Sirius 'dad' except to wind him up, Remus had pointed out that Black was a sufficiently common name that it wouldn't be noticed in the schools list and that keeping Potter was just tempting fate.

"Yes Miss!"

"Thomas Groves?" A confidant looking red-head waved his acknowledgement. They all looked around their new form mates as the names were called, trying to pin names to the faces they would be going through the school year with.

"Isaac Hornbeam?"

"Here Miss" Harry clocked the bespectacled, dark haired kid at the far end of the road smiling around at the rest of the class and imagined that that is what he would look like if he had been locked in a cupboard for ten years of his life and feed only the bare minimum of food. He met eyes with Isaac who grinned at him and Harry found himself smiling back at the confident cheerfulness in the other boys' eyes. Skinny the kid may be, but he looked like he'd be an entertaining enough character.

The teacher continued through the list, allowing Harry to identify Michael McAllister as a rather pudgy young boy with bad acne scars, Pyotr Nesterov as a square-faced boy who answered in a thick Russian accent. Jaques Morin was their second foreigner, a gangly French youth who was already the tallest boy in their year, who looked down his Gallic nose at the significantly shorter James Northall in the seat next to him. Simon and Andrew Preston were identical twin brothers who could only be told apart by the fact that they parted their short brown hair on opposite sides, though Harry had no idea as to which one was which. The last to be called gave a cheerful wave to everyone as the name Philip Robinson was read out.

"Now, this week, we will begin with basic introductory lectures to the subjects you will be studying for the rest of this year." Miss Watkins gave everyone a reassuring smile "Don't worry, we start you off nice and easily. Now please tell your parents or guardians that just before half term there will be a parents and teachers evening for any questions they may have for us, but if they have any concerns or questions, or indeed if you have any problems between now and then, please come to me. Remember, I'm not just a teacher here, I'm also your representative to the staff and to the school as a whole."

Nice, was Harry's initial impression. He'd have to work on getting Remus and introduction first, allowing him to make a good impression on her without the dog-father ruining his chances straight away.

Miss Watkins, they learned, would be teaching them Russian and French and she encouraged them to look to their classmates for help in these languages as well. Pyotr's blank expression and Jaques' haughty stare made Harry wonder just how much help they would be willing to give, but figured it was worth a pop anyway. Besides, the more languages he learned the wider the world, both magical and muggle, would open up to him. As Mr Smith had pointed out and taken no small amount of sadistic pleasure in demonstrating, if you couldn't understand what spell was coming towards you by the caster's incantation, it made it that much harder to block.

They were also informed that they would each be expected to play at least one sport – _no snags there_ thought Harry, already eager to try out for the school rugby team – and learn to play at least one instrument – _Crap_ thought Harry, who had heard the disastrous story of how his father had tried playing music in his early courtship of Lilly Evans. Apparently he had secured a date, but only on the condition that he never pick up a musical instrument every again. This on top of attending their regular classes and Harry's extra-curricular studies meant that this year was going to be seriously busy. Indeed, the first week passed in a whirlwind of introductory lectures, trying to remember where their form room was in relation to their classes and doing their best to keep each other on time.

Just as Harry was packing his things away to go to lunch on the first Friday, Dr Crestwick, the pompous and portly history professor barged into their form room. Harry had taken an instant disliking to him when the teacher had ridiculed them at the end of their first lesson of the year for not knowing anything about "the most important subject you will ever learn" before arriving at school. Isaac had left the man fuming by tossing a casual, if overly loud comment over his shoulder as they left that it was Crestwick's job to teach them and that any lack of knowledge at the end of their education would be his fault.

"Fiona!" the man snapped at Miss Watkins "That boy" he pointed at Harry who stared back in confusion, Isaac having left moments before to use the toilet "that boy" he repeated himself "needs to be taught a lesson! Never in my entire life has a student disrespected me in such a manner! Never I tell you! He implied that it was my fault his parents have been negligent and failed to give him a basic understanding of historical events! This wont stand I tell you – This. Will. Not. Stand." The rotund history professor's face became redder and redder as his rant progressed, emphasising the last four words by stabbing a chubby finger into the palm of his hand, eyes bulging in indignation.

Fiona Watkins, just as new a teacher as as Harry was a student, took a step back and scrambled for a response.

"Harry" she turned to the student in question with a concerned look on her face "is this true?"

Harry never batted an eyelid – he could hardly feed Isaac to the wolves after the other boy had entertained them all in such a fashion.

"Absolutely." His form mates looked at him in shock, having fully expected a strenuous denial in an attempt to keep his nose clean this early in the academic year.

"You see Fiona! You see the wretch does not deny it!" Harry noted that Dr Crestwick over enunciated his words, even more so when he was angry and excessively rolled his r's so that the word 'wretch' was much longer than it had any right to be. Harry stepped in before either Fiona or Dr Crestwick could say anything more.

"But then my parents have been dead for the better part of ten years, so I would argue that their 'negligence' is at least partly understandable. I've no idea what my godfather's excuse would be though." Harry allowed himself a small internal smile as the two teachers adopted the uncomfortable expression common to those who have just mentioned the p-word in front of someone they didn't realise was an orphan.

Dr Crestwick recovered first.

"Regardless! This. Will. Not. Stand!" He turned abruptly on his heel and headed for the exit leaving a stunned silence in his wake. Before he got there, the door opened, revealing Isaac, completely ignorant of the events that had preceded him. The history professor stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the boy in front of him; he turned to look at Harry; he turned back to look at Isaac, clearly at a loss for words and finding himself completely unsure as to who was to blame for either the earlier humiliation or the prank he believed had just been victim to. He huffed angrily and barged from the room, Isaac holding the door open politely for him before closing it carefully behind him. He surveyed the room, picking up on the shocked expression of his form tutor and the bemused expressions of his classmates.

"So..." he drawled "what did I miss?"

Harry's snort of laughter sent the rest of the form off into nervous laughter, ridding themselves of the tension from the confrontation. Fiona Watkins found herself unable to restrain her own chuckle, willing to guess as to what had happened. She may have been new to the teaching position, but she was fairly sure that she could guess who the trouble makers of her new form would be and sent up a silent prayer that they wouldn't cause too much mischief.

Harry grinned and waved to Remus as he got to the front gate, saying a quick goodbye to his friends after their first week at school. He felt sorry for the kids who were staying there throughout the year, unable to get back home to their families. Pyotr was one of them, and Harry had discovered that despite his sullen appearance he was actually very friendly and had an amazing poker face that meant Harry was never entirely sure whether the other lad was joking. He resolved to invite the Russian home at some point for a weekend to alleviate the boredom, maybe extending the invitation to the others for his birthday he mused.

Shaking himself back to the present, Harry patted the big black dog next to Remus and scratched behind its ears, earning a few enthusiastic thumps of the tail in response.

"Hello you ugly mug" he greeted in the voice every pet owner seemed to acquire when speaking to their animal regardless of species "did you have a fun day licking your own balls again?" He wasn't quite quick enough to dodge the slobbering lick he received in retaliation, nor did he miss Remus' smile of amusement.

"So then, week one down" Remus said as they turned away from the school, the large dog ensuring they had a clear and easy path as people moved worriedly out-of-the-way despite both human members of the Potter/Lupin/Black procession giving repeated assurances that the dog wouldn't hurt anyone. "how was it?"

Harry shrugged thinking back to the week that had flown by and been blessedly uneventful, with the exception of the run in with Dr Crestwick. "Meh... mostly uneventful." He wasn't too sure about telling them about the detention he'd received at the history professor's insistence – he was sure they'd be initially disapproving about it and then once they heard the full story Remus would show a suitable level of outrage while Sirius would begin thinking of ways for Harry to exact his revenge.

"Mostly uneventful." Repeated Remus, humour evident in his voice. "I remember mostly uneventful at school usually involved at least one detention" he caught the guilty look on Harry's face, as did the grim animagus trotting along beside them.

"How did you know?!" the protest was loud and annoyed, only serving to amuse his guardians further.

"Didn't, it was a lucky guess." Harry grumbled his displeasure and then began to explain what had happened. He had just about finished as they were walking up the front steps to their house, Remus trying to remain stern and disapproving of the whole thing, but he couldn't hide his entertainment and refused to blame Harry for trying to cover for his friend. Sirius changed back to his human form the moment they crossed the threshold and turned with a smile, ruffling Harry's perpetually messy hair despite knowing how irritating his ward found it.

"The code of the Marauder is strong in this one" he said with a grin as Harry swatted at his arm and dropped his book bag at the door "twenty minutes, then grab your other texts and we'll start _what the fuck are you doing here?!"_

_A/N: So that's the mildly altered section and the end of chapter three - hopefully you'll agree that it makes more sense to have these parts together. A summary of the changes to the extract from ch2 is that Harry has started his magical schooling early and would be ahead of anyone else at Hogwarts, which plays in to his decision to not go there. Rest assured, he will end up at the castle eventually - the current plan is for him to be there at the start of third year and I'm planning to cover first and second year in the next three to four chapters, but we'll see. _

_Hopefully you'll agree that this set up makes a bit more sense than having the first part of this chapter lumped on the last one, which was more a stand alone section, but please read and review to let me know what you think._


	4. Chapter 4

_Picking up where we left off at the end of chapter three..._

Sirius had his wand out and pointed at the figure standing by the fireplace. Remus had his wand up just as quickly, spare hand holding Harry back and out of sight. Harry's hand went to his watch, ready to twist the dial that would activate the emergency port-key. They had drilled for this constantly even before Bellatrix and Peter's escape from Azkaban. The first port-key would take him away to a pre-determined location. After that the dial on the watch could be twisted, a destination for each of the sixty minutes that were marked around the watch-face meaning, each location determined by the hour. Each hour called for them to use a different minute and Harry would never stay in one place for longer than thirty minutes if that. The joy was that even if they got separated, they would know where to find each other at a given time.

There was a tense moment as the figure by the fireplace cautiously raised his hands to show them empty to the two men holding him at wand point, though this did nothing to lessen the tension in the room.

"I mean no harm to you or your ward Sirius, nor to you, Mr Lupin." Sirius glared at the man who had found him despite all their precautions. The voice remained calm in the face of potential violence

"That didn't answer my question" growled Sirius in response "what the fuck are you doing here."

The man frowned at the profanity but otherwise showed no expression, merely gesturing towards the seating arranged around the room.

"May we sit?" He asked, keeping his hands carefully in view "I feel that this could be a long conversation and, as you often pointed out before you left my home, I am not as young as I once was." He paused to consider the situation "It would also allow young Harry to avoid enacting whatever escape plan you have no doubt prepared for him."

Both Sirius and Remus paused for a moment before Sirius nodded cautiously, gesturing towards one of the chairs opposite the sofa. Their uninvited guest made his way across and sat calmly in the recliner, depositing a expensively plain dragon-hide brief case beside the coffee table. A growled _"Bhandana"_ from Remus the moment he was sat had rune covered shackles spring from the arms, securing the man's wrists while a second set encased his feet in thick metal boots. He examined the magically binding restraints before raising an eyebrow at both men, who continued to train their wands on him, rolling his eyes as Sirius made his way swiftly across the room, quickly relieving him of his wand and performing a cursory search before finding the spare he kept strapped to his left leg and casting _Priori Incantem_ on both to reveal nothing more malicious than a cleaning charm that had been cast from the primary wand that morning and a shield from the second some three days before.

"Is this really necessary?" he asked, the voice showing a hint of amusement at the precautions that were being taken.

"Yes" snapped Remus from his position by the door way. Their now manacled guest shrugged as much as he could with the bindings.

"As you wish." He looked between the two men "What happens now?"

"Now you answer the damn question." Said Remus, hostility radiating from him and still holding Harry, by now more curious than nervous, out of sight in the corridor. The guest smiled with infuriating calm back at him.

"Of course" He flicked a finger towards the sofa "as I said though, this could be a long conversation, you may wish to take your own seat. I would also be very interested to meet the young Mr Potter and I again repeat my promise that I mean you no harm."

After a very tense moment of consideration Sirius nodded to Remus, who led a by now exceptionally curious Harry out to sit on the sofa at the furthest end from their guest. Neither youth nor old man hid their interest in the other as Sirius made his way over to Harry and placed a hand on his shoulder ready to apparate away while Remus moved behind the chair, checking the bindings and silently activating the runes hidden behind a glamour charm. The werewolf took position behind to one side of the chair, ensuring that on the off chance their prisoner did escape, avoid the potentially deadly curses tied into the wards and the restraints plus any that Remus and Sirius would immediately throw at him, he would have to keep his back to one while fighting the other and at the same time avoid any friendly fire should either of the Marauders miss their target.

"Do you have any idea who I am young man?" Harry looked at the man secured in the chair and made a quick assessment. With the exception of the features that looked vaguely familiar, Harry wasn't too sure. He was an elderly gentleman, well dressed in wizarding robes cut in such a fashion that they would not look too out of place in the muggle streets. Definitely older than either of Harry's guardians with grey hair and a neatly trimmed beard, an aristocratic air that was completely at ease despite his current predicament suggested that he had the utmost confidence in his ability to extricate himself from this situation.

"Nope," said Harry cheerfully "but I can tell you what you are." The old man across from him gave an indulgent smile that looked somewhat out of place on someone restrained in such a fashion.

"Oh really?" said the guest, amusement clear in his voice "and what, pray tell, am I?"

Harry gave his best cheeky grin, knowing what would come from his answer.

"Fucked." He accepted the cuff round the ear from Sirius, considering it worth it in exchange for the angry flicker that passed across the other man's face and the twitch at the side of Remus' face that showed he was suppressing a smile. Whoever he was, Harry considered it his duty as a member of the household to unsettle him as much as possible.

"Harry Potter, allow me to introduce my grandfather and head of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, Arcturus Black" The hostility in Sirius' voice was clearly evident and readily understood by Harry as he re-assessed the man opposite him, matching him to the stories his godfather had told him of the man who had stood impotently by as his family was torn apart in Voldemort's rise and fall.

"A pleasure" said Harry, rubbing the feeling back into his ear.

"Indeed" hummed the old man, disapproval evident in his gaze as he assessed his grandson and the young boy in front of him "I see that as well as denying the boy his heritage you have failed to teach him correct manners when addressing his elders." he added after a moment. Harry felt Sirius stiffen in anger. Despite his relaxed attitude to almost everything in life, Sirius was exceptionally proud of Harry and had a hard time accepting criticism of him even when it was directed at himself. Before he could respond, Harry beat him to it.

"Oh they did teach me manners, Lord Black" Harry spat out the title and spoke rapidly to avoid either his guardians or 'guest' interrupting "however I have been raised to treat everyone with the respect that they have shown me and mine and by breaking into our home uninvited and then insulting the men who have raised me, you have shown us none and so you receive none in return." The old man looked back at him with a level expression, re-assessing the now serious looking young man at him with undisguised anger at the criticism of his godfather's parenting skills. "And considering you are currently restrained and wand-less, I would say that my assessment of your situation is entirely accurate." The boy added as an after thought. The room went silent as the three adults looked at Harry, Sirius squeezed his shoulder by way of thanks for jumping to his defence.

"You..." began Arcturus, the surprise on his face the first expression that had stayed there for longer a fraction of a second. He re-considered what he was about to say. "You are entirely correct" Remus cast a surprised glance at Sirius who gave the barest shrug in response. His grandfather met his eyes, "Sirius," he turned and met Remus' quickly guarded expression as well "Mr Lupin," he turned back to Harry "Mr Potter" he addressed them earnestly "I apologise for my rudeness in breaking into your home, and for the insult to your parenting skills. Considering my own failures in that department I really should not criticise you." Sirius harrumphed in agreement at the last statement and the tension lessened slightly as Arcturus looked around the small group again with a tentative smile on his face "May we begin again? I certainly did not come here with the intention of starting a war." Sirius took a seat by Harry and carefully placed the wands on the side table that was just as rune marked as each item of furniture while Remus moved into sight, wand remaining in hand though no longer pointed at Lord Black, instead waving towards the kitchen where a short while later the whistle of a boiling kettle was heard.

"No house elves?" queried the elder Black to his grandson, receiving a cursory shake of the head in answer. He shrugged in response. "I suppose it's one less possible security breach, though I have never had any significant problems with that odious little shit at Grimauld Place." Sirius snorted in amusement and disgust at the memory of the psychotic little house elf that had been the bane of his childhood.

"Perhaps we could move on to the subject that bought you here instead of reminiscing over my less than happy childhood?"

"Of course, of course." Arcturus paused and pursed his lips in thought as to where to begin. "Firstly, let me reiterate that I mean no harm to any member of this household and whats more, I am also willing to make an unbreakable vow to that end before I leave." Sirius was shocked – while he had not seen his grandfather for some time, the man he had known when he was younger had loathed the constraints imposed by such vows and had refused to make any. Ever. "I see you remember my fondness for such oaths" he said wryly to Sirius "however, this is an exceptional circumstance and thus calls for exceptional measures."

"Now, on to why I am here. I was initially going to criticise you for denying young Harry – may I call you Harry?" he smiled at the ambivalent shrug from the Boy-Who-Lived "thank you – his heritage by not sending him to Hogwarts. I don't suppose you would care to explain that decision?"

Sirius' answer was three words: "Bella and Peter." Arcturus gave a small frown of displeasure at the reminder of one of his stray flock.

"Of course... Poor Bella..."

"Poor Bella?!" Burst Sirius in incredulity, "She's a psychotic bitch who was caught torturing two of my close friends in an attempt to learn what happened to her equally insane master and before that had been responsible for the torture and death of god knows how many wizards and muggles." he paused, panting with the force of the emotions that the memories of the old war dredged up before spitting with even more anger "Though I suppose the muggles don't count do they." Arcturus, initially shocked into silence by the outburst at last began to show his ninety years as one of his last surviving relations expressed such hatred for another. He sighed and slumped into his chair.

"Seventy three and four" he replied tiredly, voice barely above a whisper.

"What?" snapped Sirius, anger still bubbling at the surface.

"Seventy three dead and four tortured." His tired eyes registered the shocked looks on each of the faces in the room and sighed again "Believe it or not, I have followed her actions with as much interest as I have followed yours. During my observations I did indeed reach the same conclusion as yourself, that she was insane. But I also remember the happy young child that sat on my knee when I came to visit and also greeted the news of a new cousin" he indicated Sirius with a wave of a finger "with such unreserved happiness." He sighed again and said more to himself than his audience "she was such a fragile child... I blame myself for not taking more of an interest in her upbringing, even as I curse Cygnus and Druella... perhaps if they had been more open minded she would have had the love at home that needed to avoid falling under the thrall of that idiotic 'Dark Lord'" he sighed again and the room once more lapsed into silence. Remus floated a cup of tea to the table by his side and waved at the bonds that secured him, allowing Arcturus to move his hands and feet, though they remained attached by lengths of chain that were marked with just as many runes as the cuffs themselves. He nodded in his thanks and inspected the chains and cuffs with a scholars curiosity. "Impressive work – I do not recognise the runes though... Arabic?"

"Hindi" corrected Remus, enjoying the look of surprise on the other man's face.

"Hindi... I never would have thought of that..." he continued to inspect the bonds on one hand while stirring milk into his tea with the other.

"No" replied the werewolf with dry amusement "not many people would, that's kind of the point"

"Ah" Arcturus set the tea spoon down and held the saucer in one hand, balancing the cup with the other as the chain attached to his right ankle pulled short and stopped him from crossing his legs. He sighed and waved at the manacles with an unasked question. Remus shrugged in response and just gave a small smile at the uncomfortable situation the old aristocrat found himself in. "I had hoped that on her capture I would be able to convince her to reject her master and seek help, but alas it was not to be."

"Wait" interrupted Sirius, "you spoke to Bella after she was caught? How? None of them were supposed to see anyone other than the inquisitors, let alone family."

"I asked to." He looked around the shocked expressions of his audience. "It does have it's advantages, being the Head of an ancient and noble house. I also provided evidence for her trial."

This last served to further shock Sirius who merely spluttered out another "Wait... what?"

"The information I gathered while observing Bella was used against her in her trial" he picked up on the scepticism of the men around him "believe it or not, not all noble families are as willing to buy their way out of trouble as some, though I will not deny that it has been done by the Black family in the past. I had fully hoped that after her trial Bella would be remanded into a secure wing at St Mungos, but it was determined that she was simply too dangerous to undergo treatment, even if she had wanted any." he took a small sip of his tea and stared moodily at the steaming beverage, muttering again "Seventy three dead and four tortured... such a waste of life."

Once again it was Harry that broke the silence that stretched after Lord Black's revelation. "But I thought your family was full of blood purists and that they'd all followed Voldemort?" Arcturus shook his head sadly at the statement.

"No, not all of us." Sirius snorted in disbelief at the statement "Oh I cannot argue that many of those with the Black name supported his cause and many of my children's generation believe, wrongly, in the superiority of wizarding kind over our muggle counterparts." Sirius jaw dropped in incredulity at the understatement while Remus and Harry retained skeptical looks "Oh do close your mouth Sirius, you look such an oik." Harry smirked as Sirius' jaw snapped shut with a click of teeth "No, I have believed and continue to believe in the importance of family above all. That is the message that I have tried to promote amongst my children and grand-children and it is with great sadness that I see the warping of that message in such a short space of time. I had hoped that the ideal would lead to the recognition of my great aunt Isla, or Uncle Phineas, but sadly it was taken the other way... just look at your mother's reaction to you or your uncle Alphard or your cousin's marriage to Ted."

"Her reaction?" cried Sirius, finally finding his voice "What about yours? You stood around and did nothing when I was cut off from this family and still nothing when the rest of them began to cozy up to that snake-eyed sack of shit!" The words had Arcturus pinned to the back of his seat by the hurt in his grandson's voice.

"And again, the blame for the actions of those with my name fall, rightfully" he caveated, stalling any further comments as to his running of the family "at my feet." He met their eyes and they all noted the grief and regret in the tired face. "I can only offer my apologies, however little they mean to you, for my previous inaction and assure you that it will not happen again." There was another lengthy silence as the promise was evaluated. Lord Black glanced around them all and continued "If you open my briefcase you will find three folders, tokens of my sincerity" he turned to Remus who had been relatively quiet up to this point "if you would care to open it – I assure you it is safe, though I will gladly do so myself if you prefer – and extract the first of them?"

Remus placed the case on the coffee table and began casting at it. He glanced at Harry and stopped. "Harry, come here." Harry rose, a questioning look on his face matched by that of the old man manacled to the chair as Remus continued "This is a basic diagnostic charm to reveal any magic – curses, defences, rune work and the like – on an object. It wont tell you what spells or enchantments have been placed on it, but it will point you in the right direction for any further analysis and, more importantly, it uses minimal magic and consequently is unlikely to set off any traps." He demonstrated the wand movements carefully and had Harry repeat them until he was content as Arcturus watched on with curiosity at the impromptu lesson and Sirius swapped his gaze between the case, his godson and his grandfather. "Good, now cast it on the chair over there."

"_Incantem aperio"_ enunciated Harry carefully and the chair began to glow, swirling patterns of red tracing their way around the runes that had been painstakingly carved into the woodwork of the frame and stitched into the covering. The lighter blue blanket over it all showed the glamour that hid the enchantments from view. Arcturus was shocked at the level of magic that imbued the recliner that he assumed was the same as the one he was currently restrained in and realised that short of a magical wrecking ball that would likely as not kill him first, the bindings that held him in place were nigh indestructible. He was almost as impressed with Harry's success at casting the spell first time around.

"Good" congratulated Remus, pushing Harry back to his seat.

"But shouldn't I cast it on the case as well?"

"No – it is unlikely the spell will set off any traps, but still possible and if it does I would rather that I sprang them than you." Harry nodded acceptance and watched eagerly as Remus cast the same spell. A faint green glow washed over the case before disappearing. Remus shot a quizzical look at Arcuturus, who merely shrugged and smiled back at him.

"What?" asked Harry "What does the green mean?"

"That the case is clear from enchantments and spells." Answered Sirius, curiosity now evident in his voice. Remus hummed in agreement and spun the case away from himself and towards the empty fireplace before popping the lid open. It's owner rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation.

"Really, I have said repeatedly that I intend you no harm, is this paranoia really necessary?"

"It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you" muttered Remus as the case opened without issue and cast a glance inside.

"The top one" confirmed Arcturus as Remus recast the _incantem aperio_ and received another wash of green over the contents before extracting a brown folder bound with wax and the seal of Gringotts. "this folder" he began in a business like tone as Remus broke the seal and began skimming through the documents inside "names you, Sirius Orion Black, as my heir as head of the family on my death or before, should I become incompetent due to age or illness." Sirius jaw dropped. Of everything he could think of, this was not it. Arcturus continued "There are some caveats: firstly, you will welcome Isla, Phineas, Alphard and Andromeda, and any of their surviving offspring, back into the family;" Sirius nodded dumbly "second, you will do your utmost to continue the Black family line, ideally through children of your own, though your formal adoption of Harry here would also be acceptable, and restore it's public image from the depths to which it has plunged;" Sirius gulped and looked at Harry nervously as Arcturus shot his ward his best grand-fatherly smile that was nervously returned "lastly, and this is not included in the paperwork but is a request that I hope you will acknowledge: should it be possible, without excessive risk to yourself or others, I would like you to attempt to provide Bella with counselling and reconciliation to this family." Sirius just sat there doing a passable impression of a fly catcher as his jaw hung open. His grandfather gave a small huff of irritation. "Sirius, oik, remember?" the jaw closed and Harry snorted his amusement at Lord Black's muttered "It's like training a feral dog."

"The second folder" continued Arcturus as Remus withdrew another, similar folder and broke the seal "pertains to you, Remus." The other man looked up in shock before glancing down and quickly scanning through the paperwork before raising his eyes again, features schooled carefully blank. Lord Black, in turn now looked more uncomfortable than at any other point in their discussion "I would like to start by apologising for the backwards approach that Magical Law takes to people with your... affliction" he chose his words to describe Remus' 'furry little problem' carefully "but I have worked to provide you with as much protection as possible within the scope of the law as it stands." Remus turned back to re-read the documents in his hands and let out a low growl.

"Moony?" asked Sirius, his shock at his grandfather's previous revelations wearing off as he noticed the anger rolling off his friend. The werewolf thrust the paperwork at him and Sirius quickly began to read, angling it so that Harry could see as well as Remus continued to glare at their guest who was now fidgeting uncomfortably in the chair.

"Again, let me apologise for the perception of werewolves within magical law, but as I said, this document would protect you as best as possible until the law changes and would have you recognised as a member of the Black family and any threat or violence against you would be considered a threat or strike against the family as a whole." By now Remus' was clenching his fists in anger – Harry hadn't seen him this furious since he and Sirius had knocked up a spoof document from the ministry calling for all werewolves to undergo magical neutering.

"I don't get it, this just names you as a ward of the Black family." Began Harry, confused at the emotion on display. Sirius sniggered and pointed to a point that he hadn't noticed at the bottom of the page. He read it and his confusion was replaced with realisation and a small smile "Wait, does this mean that you're..."

"Yep" confirmed Sirius with a grin that threatened to split his face in two.

"A pet." growled Remus, clearly not sharing the amusement. Harry and Sirius broke into howls of laughter at the admission, while Arcturus gave a nervous smile. "A fucking pet." repeated Remus.

"Who's a good boy?!" Cooed Sirius before cackling with glee.

"Oh shut up you mutt." Snapped Remus at his best friend, glaring at the still giggling Sirius and Harry.

"I am sorry" said Arcturus, sincerity clear in his voice "but this was the best way I could ensure your protection should any threats realise themselves against you, either from state or individual actors, and you do not have to accept this if you do not want it – I have signed all relevant parts, including the ones that would release you from this relationship at a later date and at your own discretion should the law change in your favour." He glanced at the still clearly amused pair on the sofa.

"The last document regards young Harry." All amusement left Sirius as he snatched the final folder from the briefcase and tore through the binding. "This one Harry," he said, addressing himself to the boy in question as Sirius rapidly examined the document "names you as an adopted member of the family. Again, it requires the signatures of both yourself and Sirius to make it official. You would, in short, become a full member of the Black family and Sirius' son" Remus' anger faded to mild irritation as he began reading through the paperwork over Sirius' shoulder "you would receive a trust vault in addition to the one left to you by your parents and would inherit the mantle of Lord Black after Sirius unless he choses to name one of his own heirs, should he have any, in your place." Harry and Sirius just stared back in shock at the announcement. While Sirius had considered Harry a son since the death of James and Lilly, this would make it all very official. Arcturus looked around at them all.

"I can see that I have given you all a lot to think about. I would also add that, while I have signed all of these documents, none of them are yet legally binding, and with the exception of the first naming Sirius as my heir, I will not submit any of them for registration without your express permission." He received a trio of dazed looks in response. "As I said, I am trying to make amends for my previous inactivity and ensure the continued existence of the Black family and a return to our status as a positive example within wizarding society, a position we have sorely neglected for too long." When no response was forthcoming, he pushed forwards.

"A last point before I leave" the look on all their faces was easily read as _what the hell is coming now?!_ He smiled at the expressions "you have clearly made your decisions as to how Harry will be educated in both magical and muggle ways. I would also like to offer my services both as a financial backer, should it be needed, and as a tutor – I am sure you have experts who you can call on, but my strengths were always potions and transfiguration, though I was always above average in most of my classes" he said with blunt honesty before adding with a smirk "and I could no doubt educate you all in the correct behaviour of a young witch or wizard in polite society and I will make my contacts and experience available to you in the pursuit of your aims should you require them." He looked around them, registering the shock at the multiple bombshells he had delivered to them.

He finished his tea, setting the cup and saucer back on the tray, examining the charms on his restraints with undisguised admiration as they finished looking through the paperwork.

"This..." began Sirius uncertainly "this is all very generous." Arcturus smiled graciously at him.

"But?"

"But I can't help wondering, why now?"

"I made a mistake, when the" he paused remembering Sirius' description with a smile "'snake-eyed sack of shit' rose all those years ago, another in a long line that will be a lasting source of regret to me. I made another when I did not extend assistance or guidance to you when you made the understandable decision to leave the family, and yet another in failing to reign in Walburga's rash actions in her attempts at running the family into the ground. When Bellatrix escaped I knew that she would attempt to resurrect her master, or to take up her own position as a Dark Lady. Despite my best efforts, I have not been able to find her and return her to her cell, though my efforts are continuing. It has taken me nearly ten years to find you and that was more luck that anything else."

"How did you find us by the way?" asked Remus, curiosity and concern that they could be discovered by another, less friendly party. Arcturus smiled at the memory.

"In the past few years my melancholy at the loss of my family has seen me adopting a glamour and watching happier people than I in the parks around this great city. Imagine my surprise when I saw a rather familiar looking Grim playing in the park with a young boy and a man most others thought his father. When the ball you were throwing came near me I seized an opportunity and cast a tracker on it and that led me here. Since then, I have been watching the papers with great interest in the hopes that you would reveal yourselves as Harry returned to the wizarding world but, alas, real world events interfered and when I discovered that he would not be attending Hogwarts, I took matters into my own hands." He quickly noted their concern and continued "I assure you, in this I have had no outside help, with the exception of drafting the documents you see before you and I was exceptionally careful to ensure that I was not followed in my journey here today. I have not rediscovered my family only to lose it again through my own carelessness." The quiet seriousness of his voice conveying his sincerity.

Remus slowly nodded in acceptance, while Sirius only stared in amazement at the events of the previous hours.

"Now," he continued in a significantly lighter tone "if you will release me, I will leave you to consider my offer. You can of course reach me by owl but if you prefer a degree of separation, I can also be contacted through Gringotts." Remus turned to Sirius and released the bonds with a wave of his wand after a moment of silent consultation. Arcturus smiled gratefully and rubbed the feeling back into his wrists and feet, bones clicking as he stood and stretched.

"Wait!" called Sirius as his grandfather made his way towards the table where his wands lay. The elder Black turned with a questioning look. "Your vow, grandfather."

"Ah, of course, forgive me for adhering to the habit of a lifetime and trying to avoid it." Sirius shrugged.

"If it was just me, I'd probably let it slide. Not for Harry." Remus nodded in agreement and Arcturus accepted with a gracious nod.

"Of course." He extended his wand hand, clasping with Sirius as Remus provided the power for the bond. He cast another look around his three hosts, considering the wording for his vow before meeting Sirius' eyes hoping that his gaze would convey his sincerity. "I promise on my honour, my life and my magic, that I will not by my action or through my inaction, cause harm to Sirius Orion Black, Harry James Potter or Remus John Lupin, nor will I reveal their location to another without their approval and I will use every power both magical and other in the pursuit of their safety and success." Sirius eyes widened at the severity of the vow as the magic passed down Remus' wand and he felt the tug of the magical oath. For someone who hated restricting himself through magical oaths, he was making a significant sacrifice. He shakily returned the smile as his grandfather collected his briefcase and wands, leaving the documents on the low table before turning to regard them all again with a happy smile on his face.

"I know that this has been a trying afternoon for us all. Again, I apologise to you for the way in which I have forced my presence upon you all but I would also like to express my gratitude for you hearing out my proposal." He shook Remus' hand, repeating his apology for the restrictions imposed upon werewolves by the magical government; he shook Sirius' hand as well before turning to Harry and clasping hands with him. "Young man, the wizarding world has great expectations for you." Harry gulped and he continued with a smile "I have every confidence in you surpassing those expectations and" he added with a glance at Sirius "I look forward to welcoming you into the Black family proper." He turned to assess them all. "Should you need anything from me, please, do not hesitate to call on me and if it is within my power, you shall have it."

They nodded cautiously as he turned to leave, making his way calmly out of the door and leaving chaos in his wake. Sirius strode quickly to the window, watching as Arcturus made his way down the street before turning out of sight. Remus slumped into a seat with a sigh as the pressure of the previous conversation finally left him, Sirius joining him a moment later leaning back against the sofa and closing his eyes. Harry looked at both his guardians in their emotionally exhausted state and sat in a chair and began flicking through the paperwork.

After a moment he began to snigger quietly.

"What?" asked his godfather, eyes still closed.

"Remus is a pet." Sirius grinned but kept his eyes closed, patting his best friend on the shoulder.

"It's ok boy, we'll get you a nice new kennel and a proper doggy bowl."

"Piss off, _dad_" retorted Remus, slapping Harry's adoption papers against Sirius' chest. The latter's eyes snapped open as he muttered his hatred for legalese before beginning to read through the documentation again.

By the time they had read through each of the folders with Remus and occasionally Sirius explaining the legal speak and fine print to their ward, it was dark out side and they were all emotionally exhausted, legal papers scattered taking up whatever space wasn't occupied with the pizza boxes that had provided the fuel to their fire. Harry slouched back into the sofa and rubbed the gritty feeling from his eyes.

"Shit" he sighed in exhaustion. Sirius threw an arm around his godson and they slumped together on the sofa.

"Shit" he agreed, closing the folder he had been looking at.

"Shit" swore Remus as a bite of pizza squirted tomato sauce onto his shirt. He reached for his wand to clean the mess as Harry and Sirius sniggered at him again and looked at each other before regarding Remus. The werewolf looked back at them and rolled his eyes even as a smile tugged at his own lips.

"Shiiiiiiiit" they all agreed before descending into giggles at the absurdity of their situation.

Several hundred miles to the north in a castle in Scotland, an old man sat behind his desk, scratching a tired looking Phoenix behind the ears with one hand, cradling a glass of whiskey in the other as he peered over the top of his glasses at the elderly witch who had just arrived.

"And how are the new first years settling in Minerva?" Minerva McGonagall smiled, pouring her own small snifter of sunshine.

"Not so bad Albus." She settled into one of the chairs before his desk with a sigh, taking an appreciative sip of her drink. "Week one down and we seem to be going relatively smoothly. There were some comments about the absence of Harry Potter from both the students and the staff, but most of the questions were answered by the Prophet article. I don't suppose you have heard anything?" She queried hopefully.

Dumbledore shook his head sadly. "Nothing. The occasional sightings have been investigated, but in the chaos that followed the war they seem to have disappeared. I don't even know if they are in England any more. I had so hoped that he would be here." They descended into a rather sad silence.

"What of our new Defence Professor? He seems a little different to the man we interviewed at the start of summer, more..." McGonagall paused to think of the appropriate description "twitchy." Albus nodded sadly in agreement.

"The sad after-effects of a dark curse he didn't escape in time. Yes I had noticed the change in his demeanour." He allowed himself a small smile and the customary twinkle made a brief appearance in his eyes "Here's hoping he finds teaching a little more relaxing than whatever he was up to over the summer." This last comment resulted in a very un-ladylike snort from his Transfiguration Professor.

"You have met our students haven't you?" She asked with dry humour.

"Little angels all of them" insisted Dumbledore, struggling to maintain a straight face in his refusal to recognise the facts.

"You're going senile you old coot!" interrupted the sorting hat and both Headmaster and his Deputy rolled their eyes in exasperation at the foul mouthed artefact.

"Here we go again" muttered McGonagall.

"Yes here we go again you dried up spinster! Perhaps if I repeat myself enough you'll finally admit that you're both past it and can barely remember what you had for dinner an hour ago you washed up old has-beens, let alone the subjects you're supposed to be teaching. Perhaps then you'll do us all a favour and..." the Hat's abusive tired faded behind the well practiced silencing charm the Headmaster dropped over it. The two teachers watched it continue to rant despite not being able to hear it before turning dejectedly towards each other.

"We really need a new way to sort the students." Muttered McGonagall, knocking back the last of her whiskey and preparing to call it a night.

"I live in hope that one day I will find a cure for it's foul temper, but so far my efforts have been in vain. If however, I am having a particularly good day I make sure to speak with the Hat and he always ensures my ego doesn't inflate too much." Albus said with self-depreciating smile prompting McGonagall to roll her eyes at his poor attempt at humour.

"Good night Albus" she said, trying to hide her smile as she disappeared down the rotating spiral staircase.

_A/N: Well another chapter done and posted, I hope you enjoyed it. __Thank you all for the reviews, I will try my best to reply to all of them individually so do please keep them coming._

_As a (probably) one off, some quick fire reviews to the guests in no particular order:_

_1) There are no current plans for Harry slash or HP/GW. Haven't read the books for ages, but it didn't seem right then and the only time it seems right in other FF is when there's been a significant change in one or the other's character. _

_2) There will probably be a fair amount of physical violence involved in any fight scenes in the same vein as the Longbottom manor fight and I have a few other ideas that will go in there as well. If anyone has any specific character conflicts they want to see, let me know and I'll fit it in if it works with where I want it to go._

_3) Glad you enjoyed the Tom/James fight scene, sorry Lilly and James didn't stick around..._

_4) Regarding Rudolphus/Regulus/Rabastin in Ch 1: mea culpa, mea maxima culpa - defect rectified and chapter reposted. As I've said before, I'm running this without a beta at present, so if anyone wants to volunteer or just wants to point out a mistake, please PM me._

_Lastly, thanks again for the reviews, keep 'em coming! _


	5. Chapter 5

_4 Pre-Chapter notes: _

_1) So while this chapter begins mid-September, it then jumps forward to Halloween 1991. I do have an idea of a few events that will take place before this, such as the train journey to Hogwarts and the first lessons there but at the moment I don't have the time or inclination to include them at present as they may well form the basis for another FF, though if that doesn't happen I'll come back and insert at a later date._

_2) With regards to guest reviews, I just want to say that I do appreciate all feedback and while most of the time I'll only reply to reviews with accounts attached, I will reply to guests if they raise points that I think may be of interest to other parties in the A/N at the end of the chapter._

_3) The Hat in the previous chapter was inspired by Jbern's truly fantastic 'The Lie I've Lived' - I have messaged him for permission to use it but have had no response and can only ask for his forgiveness for not doing it justice, though I strongly recommend this and his other works. As with many of the things you may recognise in this story, my inspiration in this story comes from the things that make me smile or laugh out loud and I intend no offence by, nor am I making any money from, their inclusion here. Props to you if you can recognise them all though._

_4) I'm having serious issues with internal breaks in the chapter - I'm going to continue experimenting until I find something that works but if anyone has a suggestion I'm only a PM away._

_Anyway, next instalment, please enjoy and review!_

_September 1991:_

Over the weekend following Arcturus' visit, Sirius, Remus and Harry reached a decision on his offers. While Sirius had little choice about his status as Black heir, the other two proposals required much more thought. After several very careful conversations with Harry and more than a few glasses of fire-whiskey fuelled debates with Remus, Sirius and Harry decided that yes, he would formally adopt Harry into the Black family on the understanding that he would not become 'dad'. The argument that sealed the debate was that it would help them to counter any outside interference on their return to the wizarding world much more so than his current status as legal guardian would, as his current status was based in muggle legal system from after they had gone into hiding.

Remus, to much ridicule from his housemates, had eventually accepted his offer as well and for the next month began to receive regular presents from Harry and Sirius in the form of picture frames with 'My First Pet' emblazoned across them and continual jokes at his expense. He eventually put a stop to it by turning Sirius into a Chihuahua and Harry into a Poodle and taking them for walks around the park with the leads that they had bought him in their latest prank.

Arcturus proved useful in more than just providing legal protection and advice. He joined Harry's growing crowd of tutors. He proved a true master at potion brewing and transfiguration, while his enthusiasm for the subjects was infectious, allowing Harry to quickly grasp the basics of both arts. He also insisted on schooling all three of his new family members in what he described as "the correct manner in which a gentleman should conduct himself within polite society." Sirius had grumbled and complained that he always had more success with being a rogue, to which his grandfather's rather stern reply was:

"One should endeavour to always be a gentleman in public. If you are lucky enough to be allowed to make an impression in private, that is when you should make your impression as a rogue." Sirius paused for consideration but his reply was cut off with a "Now shut up and pay attention." Which left Harry and Remus sniggering as they learned the correct way to introduce a guest according to the social status of the individual they were being introduced to.

Harry found himself so busy that the time literally flew by; when he wasn't studying at school, he was continuing his magical and combat education at home. On top of this, he had picked his musical instrument – Isaac Hornbeam had played the cello since he was eight and encouraged Harry to pick up the instrument as well, and either because of his friend's enthusiasm or for the ability his father lacked, Harry found that he wasn't as awful as he had anticipated. Somehow he also found time to play rugby and at tryouts had been lucky enough to secure his position as a reserve fly half.

As the weeks progressed, Arcturus had been increasingly involved in all of their lives. As well as attending Harry's rugby games, participating in his magical education and even listening in to his cello practice, he had revealed himself to be a rather formidable bear animagus and had volunteered one of his estates and his company for Remus on the full moon. Harry had taken great pleasure in having another family figure around, and both Sirius and Remus were also surprised at how good it was to have another connection with the wizarding world. Though neither of the Marauders regretted their role in raising Harry or the sacrifices that they had been required to make, they had not realised how much they had missed the company of other, non-muggle, adults during their self-imposed isolation from the magical world.

It certainly helped that Arcturus shared in their sense of humour and had been more than willing to aid Harry in his early efforts at pranking both Marauders, leaving them confused as to just how 'The Pup' had managed to get one over on such experienced mischief makers as themselves, before they began to recognise the elder Black's guiding hand. Their discovery of this fact had been further joy for every one but Remus, who was now in a constant state of uncertainty as to whether his status as a Black family pet was a prank or not. The fact that Arcturus had honed his poker face at the tables in wizarding Monte Carlo and was completely unreadable and he refused to outright deny Remus' questions on the matter only furthered Sirius' and Harry's entertainment.

/

Friday 1st November, Hogwarts.

Hermione Granger lay in her hospital bed feeling thoroughly miserable.

She had hidden in one of the lesser used toilets of Hogwarts after a particularly horrible comment from one of her classmates. She had intended to stay there until the Halloween dinner had started, at which point she could creep back to her dorm room without being seen, when a troll had burst in, flailing its club with wild abandon until it had sighted Hermione. She had watched, frozen in terror as the giant beast approached her with its club raised to strike. Fortune had smiled on her though and it had been distracted by the fortuitous appearance of the resident ghost, a perpetually miserable young girl named Myrtle. Even though Hermione had seized the opportunity and sprinted for the exit, she had been clipped by the troll's club and knocked into a wall.

Hermione Granger did not swear. Ever. But if she did, at this moment she would have screamed: _W__hat the flipping-heck is a gosh-darned troll doing in the ladies toilets of Hogwarts?!_

coming to several hours later in the infirmary with her arm and shoulder immobilised.

The school nurse, Madam Pomfrey, had explained to her that Professor McGonagall had found her just in time, incapacitating the troll and taking her to the infirmary with a broken arm and almost ruined shoulder. Pomfrey had sent a house elf for the Transfiguration professor as soon as her patient had woken and was now bustling about the ward, keeping a close eye on the rather despondent young lady in the bed. She glanced up as McGonagall walked in and gestured towards Hermione with a nod.

"Good morning Hermione" greeted the professor gently "how are you feeling?" The girl looked up at her and tears began to stream down her face and she sniffed. The elderly Scots woman felt her heart go out to her young ward. She was aware that she shouldn't have favourites among the students, but she would readily admit for having a soft spot for the muggle-born who showed such potential and enthusiasm for the magical education ahead of her.

"I want to go home" she whimpered softly as her head of house sat on the edge of her bed, pulling her into a hug.

"You poor dear" comforted McGonagall quietly "you've had such a fright." She let the crying go on for a bit, patting the girls back and carefully avoiding the injured limb while carefully considering her options. To lose a student with such potential would be a disaster, but sometimes a trip home was the best thing to be done and she nodded in agreement, glad that she had thought of this the previous evening. "I've spoken to the Headmaster about this already" Hermione sniffed again, brushing the tears from her eyes and looking hopefully back up at her "if you want to go home for a week to recover we can make that happen. Poppy would insist on you taking a good amount of rest over the next few days anyway." Hermione gave a small smile and a grateful nod of thanks.

"Why don't you speak to some of your friends and they can pack up some of your things to take with you, I'll speak to your tutors... what's wrong dear?" apparently she had said the wrong thing as Hermione broke down once again, mumbling her response.

"Don't have any friends here, they all think I'm a know it all and don't want to talk to me." Choked out the girl in a quiet, heartbreaking admission.

"Oh you poor wee girl" sympathised the professor, pulling her into a hug again while her Scottish brogue increased with her emotional state. "Don' ye worry, I'll speak to the house-elves and they'll pack some things for you. Is there anything in particularly ye want?" The bushy head shook in the negative "OK. Well I'll collect some of your things and check with your professors. Judging by your performance so far, you wont miss out on too much" the praise earned her a shaky smile "and while you can nae practice magic, you can certainly read about it and your books will be charmed so that people will see muggle school books instead of magical ones." Hermione nodded her understanding. McGonagall got up and made to leave, smiling as she looked towards the door before turning back "You might have been wrong about those friends though." she commented, pointing towards the entrance to the door.

Hermione looked in the direction McGonagall pointed and saw Neville Longbottom, one of her fellow Gryffindors that she had befriended on the train here. She hadn't seen much of him since their arrival and he had hung around the idiotic Ronald Weasley since then and she had no desire to speak to that particular wizard even before his comments about her being an insufferable know-it-all.

McGonagall left her two Griffs and went to arrange Hermione's trip home as Neville made his way to his injured housemate. She gave him a smile of thanks on her way past that he nervously returned.

"How are you Hermione?" He asked nervously. She shrugged her un-injured shoulder and nervously picked at the blanket "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for what Ron said. He's a good guy, but he can be a bit of an idiot sometimes. I've told him he should come and apologise to you as well, but..." she snorted softly, already knowing how pig-headed the boy could be and Neville grinned in agreement, glad that she was smiling again "yeah, I guess you know that already." He paused for a moment "I also wanted to say I'm sorry for not speaking to you much since the train" she looked at him in confusion and he ploughed on "I should have realised how difficult it is in a new school, especially for someone who isn't used to magic, and I just thought I should say that if it's not too late, I'd really like to try to be a better friend to you."

Hermione was shocked. She had liked Neville from their brief conversation and had wanted to ask so many questions of the friendly, if slightly forgetful boy had seemed like her in-road to the other kids from magical families, but she had hardly spoken two words to him since they arrived. She nodded dumbly and gave a muttered "Thanks". He got up to head to his classes with a promise to drop by later on with their homework.

"Wait!" called Hermione, nearly forgetting "Professor McGonagall has said I can go home while my shoulder gets better, but I'll be back soon" she paused, knowing she wouldn't be doing her bookish reputation any favours with this request but she couldn't change who she was "can I copy your notes when I get back?" He grinned and nodded.

"I'll do you one better – I'll send them by owl at the end of the day, it'll save you trying to cram them all in at once at the end of the week." With that, he turned and left a pleasantly stunned Hermione Granger in her bed while promising himself he'd have another go at Ron for his comment.

Two hours later, McGonagall and Hermione appeared in her parents garden. McGonagall explained to her mother what had happened and after assuring her that Troll attacks were not a regular occurrence at the school, promised to return and collect her the following weekend, leaving Hermione under strict orders to rest as much as possible.

/

Saturday 2nd November 1991

Harry hurt. The pain in his jaw had faded from a tear inducing stabbing, crunching, pain of teeth being chipped to a throbbing, aching roar, but it was still enough that he had to maintain all his focus to stop himself from crying aloud.

Harry, and by extension both Sirius, Remus and Arcturus, had been thrilled when gained a place as substitute fly-half for Westminster's Under 16 team and, up until now, his fan club of three had stood on the sidelines and cheered on a team that secured victory even as Harry sat on the bench kicking his heels. This time had been different.

With the full moon the night before, Remus had gone out to one of the Black estates, making a pleasant change from being changed up in the converted and heavily sound proofed basement of their Belgravia home and Sirius had gone with him to keep him company during the change. Arcturus had expressed his regrets but was on a business trip in the Middle East that he had promised to bring Harry back a manual on Arabic rune carving from, so he couldn't make it either. As a result, Harry was staying at Isaac's house until Sirius' return on Sunday, and the adult Hornbeams, Jacob the stock-broker and Rebecca the house-wife, were now stood politely on the side lines as their son cheered enthusiastically, occasionally interrupting him to ask for an explanation as the rules of the game, quietly thanking their lucky stars that their son had opted for croquet as his obligatory sport and not agreeing at all with Harry's assessment that rugby was "a game for thugs, played by gentlemen". At least the boy had joined their darling son in playing the cello.

The Westminster coach, a friendly man in his mid-thirties called David Barrett, had warned his players before the game that this one would almost certainly be a bit tougher than their earlier ones. Westminster and Smeltings Academy had had a rather violent game several years before that had resulted in a bloody victory for Westminster at the cost of three of their players in hospital and several further cuts and scrapes. There had been bad blood between the schools ever since and each game had often seen fouls against the other side and questionable tactics employed by both teams.

"Now lads" began Coach Barrett with a grim look in his eye "the older players amongst you may remember the games we had against these guys last year – they fight dirty and they're out for blood after their poor performance last season. We know we're better than them, so lets prove it out there." He started, pointing in the general direction of the pitch. He looked around the young players, some of whom would be seeing their first game-time today "I'm going to ask you to do something difficult. When they foul you, which they will, walk away. When they use dirty tactics in the scrum, which they will, do not retaliate. We are better than them" he repeated "we do not, no, _will not_ stoop to their level, do you understand?"

"Yes coach" came the ragged reply and he grinned back at them.

"Good, now substitutes: make sure you're properly warmed up – I'd hoped to get you some game time before this, but we simply haven't had the opportunity up until now. I will be surprised if you don't see the pitch today. Just remember your training and you'll be ok. Do your best, that's all anyone can ask of you." Harry felt the thrill of anticipation at the possibility of getting some time on the pitch and wished that his family could be here. Maybe the coach would let him borrow the game tape to show them after, or he could put the memory into Arcturus' penseive.

Coach Barrett continued with a rousing speech for the team, getting them rather riled up for someone who had asked them to play with level heads. Harry could see the man's love of the stage showing through, he had been surprised when one of the other players pointed out that he also helped run the theatre club, but it made sense once you got to know the man, and there was more than one smirk as he finished with:

"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more!" With a roar the team ran onto the pitch, ready to face their opponents.

The game had been going well up until shortly after half time. Ten minutes in to the second half, their starting fly-half went out with a concussion from a particularly brutal tackle from Smeltings' flanker, and Harry was drafted in to fill the gap.

"Now listen Harry," Coach Barrett addressed the nervous young man before him "you know the plays and you've played before you got here – this is just like any other game. Take the kick and any scrums after that, push to the right, their open-side flanker's out for that foul but he's only gone for another few minutes, after that he'll be worried about spending more time in the bin. Use the gap, push through as far as you can. Ready?" a determined nod "Good lad, give 'em hell!"

Harry ran onto the pitch where the teams were re-setting for the penalty kick. He tuned out the noise of the crowd and the stares of the opposing team as they tried to intimidate him, focusing completely on the ball, feeling the wind and settling his breathing. As with everything – magic, hand to hand fighting, music, academics, Harry had found the key was to clear his mind, seek his inner calm and identify the 'flow' of what was in front of him. "Use the Force, Luke" Sirius had said when he had tried to explain it to him, quoting one of their favourite films.

Everything went silent. He glanced up, seeing the trees off to the side calm slightly as the wind died and began his run. No crowd, no noise, just him and the ball. Left foot planted firmly beside the ball, right foot swinging forwards, connecting, following through. He watched as the ball flew true and he allowed the roar of the crowd to wash over him, grinning with the pleasure of it. It hadn't been that far and he'd made the kick a hundred times or more during practice, but still: first five minutes on the pitch and he'd scored. Sirius would be kicking himself for missing this. So would the other two for that matter. He turned to jog back to the centre-line, accepting the praise from his team-mates.

It went down hill from there. Every yard had to be fought for bitterly against a determined opponent and Harry was slammed into the mud by a giant from their second row less than a minute after play re-started. It knocked the wind out of him, but he was able to carry on. The true damage, the damage that now had him sat in a hospital waiting room for their on-call dentist to examine his ruined teeth, had come from their returning number seven. After returning from his time in the sin-bin, Harry had sprinted past him and the much larger player simply couldn't match Harry for speed and was left fuming in his wake. Harry had gained them thirty yards before being taken down by Smeltings' own fly, and earned an evil look from the too-slow flanker.

"What's his problem?" He asked one of his team mates. The older boy looked across at him and pulled a face.

"That would be their new flanker, Dudley something-or-other. Not that fast, but it's like running into a brick wall." He paused, re-assessing the other player "Maybe a little softer actually, but the point is, he doesn't move. He's also a vicious not-so-little prick, so avoid him if you can." Harry nodded and readied for the next play.

The ball came out and he feinted left. He span on the spot, letting the opposing number eight overshoot before turning back and sprinting round the edge of the scrum to hightail down the right hand side of the pitch. Straight past the Fat Flanker, as he had nicknamed the boy, but he'd managed it before, he could out-sprint him again.

Harry saw the large shape closing in and looked for space... It was going to be tight. He looked behind him to see if he could pass the ball off to one of his team mates. No joy. He pushed for more speed, hoping to twist away from danger. _I'm gonna make it!_ He thought gleefully, and all of a sudden there was a blinding pain in his jaw and his feet went out from under him.

"Wha'..." Harry gasped for air against the weight above him. The piggy features of the other player were twisted in hatred as he muttered angrily around the mouthguard.

"No one gets around Big D twice." The pain in Harry's jaw was excruciating, ringing in his ears and his vision was going fuzzy at the edges. The whistling continued and Harry realised it was coming from the referee as some of his team-mates pulled the fat lad off and began berating him angrily. Harry stayed down, he could hardly make out the words anyway, so he just remained on his back until the concerned faces on the team captain's face and then Coach Barrett's obscured his view of the clouds.

"I can still play" mumbled Harry, even though it was the last thing he wanted to do. He pushed himself to one elbow and rolled to one side as he spat out his mouthguard. He felt decidedly unwell and the white rubbery material that was supposed to protect his teeth was coated with more blood than saliva.

"Don't worry Harry, that foul cost them the game." grinned Thomas Robbins, the captain of the Westminster team "Besides, with the number of injuries on both sides we'd have to stop here anyway and the points from your penalty kick put us in the lead."

"Good" said Harry. He coughed, earning a stabbing pain in his chest that made him wince and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and looked back up at his coach guiltily "I might have been lying when I said I can still play." He felt like someone had kicked him square in the jaw and then jumped on his ribs and he groaned as Tom helped him up, coach and captain helping him to the side-lines and the school nurse. Miss Watkins and Isaac's parents were waiting there as well, worry etched on to their faces.

After a very brief examination from the nurse pronounced probable broken ribs as well as the damage to his teeth, Harry was directed straight to the hospital to have his chest bandaged and to see their on-call dentist. Jacob Hornbeam and Miss Watkins accompanied him and he was now sat in the dentist's waiting room, ribs freshly wrapped and head buzzing from the industrial strength painkillers the doctor had given him.

When he was called in the dentist, a tall slightly balding man with a kind face, waved him towards the chair. "Hullo" he greeted them pleasantly, ushering them all in "I hope you don't mind, my daughter is home from school at the moment – a broken arm following a stumble down the stairs – and she'll be joining us today if you don't mind?" Harry looked at the bushy haired girl with her nose buried in a rather large book and her arm carefully immobilised by a sling. She glanced up and gave a tentative smile that Harry returned with a small wave, before she went to her book. He shrugged at her father and took a seat.

Hermione largely ignored the patients her father had received, focusing instead on her studies. The latest one was a mud splattered boy about her own age with a rather large bruise spreading up his cheek and amazingly green eyes, who had apparently been injured in a game of rugby. She briefly wondered if he would have been a friend before dismissing him as more likely to be involved in the popular crowd, while she would have taken up her usual position as book-worm, even if they had gone to the same school. She turned back to her reading for the day – she had covered almost the entire books list before she had arrived at Hogwarts and finished off the rest in the last month. Now was the time for reading ahead and her new focus was a text on Ancient Runes that she had borrowed from the library in preparing for her third year subjects. Unfortunately, despite her natural smarts, she didn't quite understand the theory behind how the placement of runes changed according to the order they went in and she was chastising herself for not asking Professor Babbling about it before she left. She thumped the book shut and huffed in frustration.

"Sorry" she had drawn the attention of her father and the two adults who had come in with the boy, "this just doesn't make much sense to me." The dark haired scholarly looking man she assumed to be the patient's father glanced at the text.

"'A Foundation in Particle Physics'" he stated wryly "I'm not surprised, I don't think it makes much sense to anyone except particle physicists." The woman with him smiled sympathetically at her and Hermione blushed at her outburst, just grateful for the charms over the book that disguised its true nature. She saw the boy in the chair glance towards her and she raised the cover for him to have a look as well earning a surprised raise of the eyebrow from him even as her father continued to poke around in the boy's mouth.

"Just some light reading while I'm home." Hermione mumbled even as she cursed herself for not thinking of a better excuse for reading up on such a topic. Fortunately, she had told her parents about the magical properties of her school books before leaving the house with them, so her father wasn't surprised at the observation. It had, in fact, happened several times already today.

"You must be very smart to be even considering particle physics as 'light reading'" Commented the woman and Hermione's blush deepened as she mumbled her thanks.

"She is" commented Dr Granger, sitting up from his patient and pushing the button that raised the chair upright "we're very proud of her" he said, pulling the surgical mask down and smiling at his daughter "rinse and spit please." He said to Harry, passing him a small cup of the pink mouthwash that can be found in all dentist's surgeries even as he turned to address the adults "Now your son - "

"Oh," interrupted Jacob, "Harry isn't our son, he's a friend of my boy Isaac's just staying with us while his guardians are away, Miss Watkins here is his form tutor at Westminster."

"Oh, well, Harry here has gotten off lightly it would seem" he smiled at the boy in question "he's got a bruised but not broken jaw and two chipped but not shattered teeth. I must admit, from the initial report of our ER nurse, I was expecting it to be much worse. Anyway, I've been able to repair the chips, but you'll find they're rather tender for the next week or so. I'd recommend a liquid diet for the next two days at least and avoid eating on that side until it feels more comfortable. You'll need to book an appointment to see your dentist in about two weeks for a check up, earlier if you have any problems." Harry nodded in understanding, probing the repairs with his tongue. "It must have been quite a hit." Commented the dentist sympathetically, prompting an angry reaction from both Fiona and Jacob.

"That thug" spat out Fiona Watkins "clotheslined Harry! Didn't like the idea that Harry was going to make it past him – again, I might add." Dr Granger winced sympathetically.

"At least we won" countered Harry with a lopsided grin, half his face now feeling numb with the extra-painkillers in his jaw adding to the ones the doctor had given him for his ribs. With the two combined, he was starting to feel exceptionally light-headed and would almost say he was enjoying himself were it not for the effect on his balance. He looked at the book the dentist's daughter was studying: _Mastering Ancient Runes, by Septimus Hightower_ and winced in sympathy "I found the introductory study by Arthur Blackwand much easier to understand. He also cites a few more useful papers that are a good starting point for further reading that should make that" he pointed at the book in her lap "a bit easier to digest." Hermione gave him a slightly confused but grateful smile and a "thank you".

Fiona Watkins eyes widened in surprise, "Harry, I had no idea you had any interest in particle physics." Her charge shrugged awkwardly, realising his mistake and mumbled an excuse about having many strings to his bow even as they thanked the dentist, wished his daughter a swift recovery from her fall and left the examination room.

Dr Granger smiled at his daughter "You always meet the most interesting people doing these NHS days" he said "I don't think we've had that many rugby playing particle physicists into our private surgery." His daughter giggled at the weak joke and went back to her book, glad that there was at least one other person who enjoyed learning as much as she did, even if it was in a subject she would never study at Hogwarts and scribbled the recommendation down on a scrap of paper. She might not study it in school, but there was no reason she couldn't read in to it on her own time, was there? Maybe they would have been friends after all.

/

By the end of the week, Hermione's arm was fully recovered and her parents were marvelling at how quickly magic could repair injuries. Thanks to Neville's notes, she felt that she hadn't missed out on too much of her studies and the short messages that he was sending with them also made her feel much better about returning to the school where she now had at least one friend. Though she loved her parents dearly, she was now feeling rather bored of being at home and was looking forward to getting back. Despite a rummage around her local library and searching on her father's new computer, she had been unable to find the article on particle physics that 'Rugby-boy' as she now thought of him, had mentioned. Perhaps she could ask her dad to pass on a letter to him asking him to confirm the name of the article if he came back to her father's surgery.

When McGonagall arrived at the Granger household, Hermione had been ready to leave for almost an hour and after a final goodbye to her parents paired with a promise to avoid any more life-threatening situations, the two witches apparated to Hogsmead and began a slow walk up to the castle.

"And how was your week at home, Hermione?" asked McGonagall, smiling down at the girl who seemed in much better spirits than when she had last seen her.

"Very nice, thank you Professor." She rolled her shoulder in the socket and made a small face "My arm is still a little bit sore, but it's back to a full range of movement now." They continued walking, Hermione's luggage floating beside them as the girl gave a brief outline of her quiet week away from the school. As they neared the gates, Professor McGonagall passed control of the luggage to a house-elf, who whisked it away to the Gryffindor tower and began to move in the direction of the headmaster's study.

"Oh, Professor?" called Hermione.

"Yes, Miss Granger?"

"I was looking at a text on Ancient Runes over the summer and I know I'm not going to study them until my third year but I found it really difficult to get my head around the idea of rune placement according to the order in which you write them, I was just wondering, well, hoping really, that you could point me in the right direction?" She asked nervously, the words rushing out in one breath. McGonagall, slightly taken aback by the speed at which the young girl spoke and the fact that she was reading quite so far ahead, pursed her lips in thought.

"Well of course" she replied, thanking the stars that a student this eager to learn hadn't been permanently scared away by the troll attack, or worse. "Professor Babbling is really the expert in this" she noted the disappointed look on Hermione's face and relented "but I remember reading up on it for my NEWTS. Is it still the Septimus Hightower book?" Hermione nodded dejectedly and the transfiguration professor nodded in understanding "Yes, that was always rather long-winded and not particularly useful as an introduction but I do remember a much better one that we used to use... now what was the name of that paper?" she searched her memory for the paper she had used in her revision all those years ago "Hmm, I can't remember the name of the article, but it was by an old student here called Arthur Blackwand – much easier to read and it really broke the points down quite well. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm afraid I must go see the Headmaster." She completely mis-interpreted the stunned expression on her student's face as she turned away.

Hermione Granger did not swear. Ever. But if she did, she was sure that she would have gotten a detention not three minutes after stepping back into the castle. She wandered back to her dorm room in a daze, completely at a loss for what to do, with one major question running through her head: _Exactly who the flipping heck was Rugby-boy?!_

_A/N: well there you go, Chapter 5 up. Still beta-less, so again the plea goes out for any willing volunteers. For those of you who aren't familiar with the British medical system, the NHS is the National Health Service which provides free health care to all. We also have dentists available on the NHS, though they're mostly booked up years in advance for the purpose of this story, they have one on call. While canon has the Grangers running their own surgery, again for the purpose of this FF they work the occasional shift in the local hospital - convenient, huh?_

_The last thing I have to say is thanks for reading and please review!_

_YA, _

_Notsoancientmariner_


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: So it should be fairly clear, but this is AU. In (another) break from canon, Arcturus will not die in 1991. If you don't like it, I would politely point out that this is FF and you might be in the wrong place. Also I'm going to jump fairly rapidly through first and second year, they'll be a chapter, maybe a more if I have enough to make them._

End of Christmas term Parent/Teacher evening, Westminster School:

Harry tried and failed miserably to separate his guardians before they entered the form room to speak to Fiona Watkins about his performance. Normally it wouldn't have been at all hard to convince Sirius to stay at home, but Remus had impressed upon him the importance of this first meeting, not realising Harry's ulterior motives until it was too late.

The moment Remus walked in to the room, he was smitten with the pretty young teacher who asked them to call her Fiona. Sirius, being remarkably astute for once, picked up on this almost straight away and adopted a carefully innocent smile, while Harry became increasingly worried at his good behaviour, just wondering what was coming. In the end, it was Fiona who initiated it.

Having completed their discussion of Harry's academic performance "certainly a good start, though he will have to keep working hard and try to avoid too much mischief" the last part was said with a friendly smile from his tutor and elicited a proud one from Sirius and an attempt at a disapproving frown from Remus that was undermined by the amusement tugging at the corner of his mouth. And then it happened.

"I have to say" began Miss Watkins slightly awkwardly "but it's really nice to see how well you two have raised Harry, you must have had an awful lot of criticism as two men raising a child as a couple, but he is an exceptionally bright young lad and you should both be so proud." Remus gave Harry a grin, completely missing the implication that he and Sirius were a couple.

"Thank you we... wait, what?"

_There it is_ thought Harry, _the penny's dropped_. He kicked Sirius discreetly in the ankle, trying to stem the older man's amusement as they both watched the inevitable train wreck as Remus tried to explain his definitely heterosexual status in context with the relationship that he and Sirius held. _I wonder if Sirius will even need to ruin this one?_

"It's just that I imagine that you would have received a lot of criticism as two gay men raising a child, it's very... progressive of you and I think you are certainly a positive example to be held up in support of..." Her earnestness in responding to Remus' confusion had Sirius biting his tongue to stop his laughter, while Harry found himself cringing at the awkwardness of the situation. Eventually Remus found his voice and interrupting her.

"What? I'm not... I mean we're not... well I'm also not..." Sirius was more than happy to interrupt his protestations and slapped a look of mock horror over his amusement, grabbing Remus' hand which was promptly snatched away as the werewolf's face turned bright pink in embarrassment.

"But darling how could you?! I've given you the best years of my life! What will our son think" He grabbed Harry and pushed him towards Remus like a piece of evidence in a high stakes court trial "if even his other dad can't admit who he is to himself? To thine own self be true, my love!" he finished dramatically as Remus became increasingly flustered spluttering further arguments as to his sexuality. An equally embarrassed Miss Watkins turned to Harry for help.

"No they aren't gay. Idiots, certainly, but not gay."

"Oh!" The uncomfortable silence was broken as Sirius broke down in laughter. Remus grudgingly admitted the humour of the situation and began chivvying the other two towards the door as Fiona Watkins stammered an awkward apology.

Sirius' "Come along sweetheart" could be easily heard by the blushing tutor who silently begged the ground to open up and swallow her before she could embarrass herself further in front of them, as could Remus' "I hate you so very much sometimes Sirius, you do know that don't you?" Hopefully he would forgive her faux pas and she allowed herself a little day-dream about dating Remus Lupin before the arrival of her next set of parents.

"Harry" said Remus cautiously, looking up from the letter in his hand "did you have anything to do with this?"

"Anything to do with what?" asked the boy innocently. _They've got nothing on me_ he thought to himself. He carefully constructed his admittedly rudimentary occlumency shields just in case.

"Anything to do with _this_" The werewolf waived the letter at Harry, who could the corner Remus' jaw was twitching but couldn't tell if that was the after-effects of the tickling curse that Sirius had attached to his favourite mug, amusement or anger. It was passed to Sirius for his inspection who quickly skimmed through it before passing it to Arcturus who had been having tea with his grandson and newly confirmed pet werewolf before beginning Harry's potion lesson for the afternoon.

Sirius crossed his arms and struggled to contain his emotions as he assessed his godson. "Perhaps" he began carefully "you should tell us what happened. From your perspective." Harry gave his best _I'm innocent of absolutely everything_ smile, the one that Sirius had encouraged him to use whenever he was trying to pick up whichever pretty woman was cooing over Harry's pretty green eyes and was about to fall for the caring, sensitive godfather routine.

"Weeelllll" he began, running a hand through his messy hair to hide his awkwardness "we got to school the other day and it seems that _someone_" he stressed "and there is _no evidence_ as to exactly who," Sirius' jaw was twitching now as well, while Arcturus was watching him carefully over the top of his glasses "_lost_ some livestock that wandered, completely by coincidence, into the school."

"Really?" Drawled Remus, unable to hide the amusement in his voice.

"Yep" confirmed Harry, doing a much better job at keep his face clear of emotion than anyone other than Arcturus and even his eyes were twinkling merrily.

"So" Sirius clarified "there just happened to be some... livestock?"

"Sheep" confirmed Harry

"Right, there just happened to be some sheep in the school." He looked back at the letter "Why do they think that someone might have had a hand in this?"

"Well" Harry had given up hiding his amusement as well now and grinned at the Marauders and his new great-grandfather "one or two of them might have made their way into the staff room. Which was locked. Apparently." Sirius snorted his amusement "And another made it into the head boy's room. Interestingly one of the female prefects was there as well at the time, though I have to wonder what they were doing as there were some very strange noises coming from that room. Even before the sheep" Remus began to chuckle as well. "It might also be because of the numbers." Harry couldn't help adding as an afterthought.

"'The numbers'?" asked Arcturus, the only one at the table not showing his amusement.

"Hmm," confirmed Harry "apparently, again, I don't know as I wasn't included in this funny, harmless prank enacted by some incredibly resourceful, smart and probably devilishly good looking students, that just happened to result in the suspension of a rather arrogant head boy and his incredibly unpleasant girlfriend who both had some very nasty things to say about Pyotr, but _apparently_ some numbers were painted on the side of the sheep."

"And how was this a problem?" The grin on Remus' face stretched nearly from ear to ear. They had all met and liked Harry's Russian class mate who had been to stay on more than one occasion.

"Well they could only find numbers one, two, three, five, six, nine and ten." Arcturus hid his smile with a well timed sip of tea. "Funnily enough, the farmer they eventually tracked down as the owner of the sheep, swore ten sheep had gone missing for two days before re-counting and realising he was mistaken and was only missing seven." Harry grinned at Sirius' laughter. "If I had to guess, I'd say that those amazingly talented and handsome perpetrators might have had a willing farmer slightly warp the truth for them."

Remus paused for thought for a moment before asking carefully "Don't the Preston twins live on a farm just outside the city?" Harry's eyes widened in over-exaggerated surprise.

"They do actually! Hey, do you think they might have had something to do with it?" he asked innocently. Remus' cheeks were starting to hurt at his continuos smiling, while Sirius was also grinning like a loon. Even the normally stoic Arcturus had given up on hiding his amusement and was smiling at the story.

"Who knows?" said Remus dryly "Maybe they did." Harry gulped the last of his tea.

"Oh, I meant to ask, after I've finished potions, can I go see a film with the guys tonight? Simon and Andrew's older brother Steven and some of their cousins are in town for a couple of days and said he'd take us out for dinner." He looked around, hoping to capitalise on the goodwill towards him adding "I've already got most of my homework done, just need to finish the Russian translation for Miss Watkins and the essay on _Why Duelling in a Fight will get you Killed_ for Mr Smith."

The three adults exchanged dubious glances before turning to Sirius for the final decision. He narrowed his eyes at Harry, dragging out the silence until Harry began to squirm nervously. Eventually he nodded slowly "Wait!" he interrupted Harry's jubilant shout and fished his wallet from his jacket pocket and pulling out some cash to give Harry "Here. Perhaps if you found out who the perpetrators of such an entertaining prank were, you could buy them a drink from one old prankster to another." Harry grinned and nodded.

"Thanks Siri!" he said and swiped at his godfather's hand as he reached out to ruffle his hair, knowing how much it annoyed the boy. Arcturus rolled his eyes at the indulgence but was smiling as he got up to deliver another potions lesson to The-Boy-Who-Lived.

"Just remind them of The First Rule of Pranking!" Called Remus to their retreating backs the words capitalised after the Marauders had laid down the ground rules for their campaign of terror at Hogwarts. Harry poked his head back around the door with his answer:

"Don't get caught!"

Two hours and a potions lesson later, Harry was arranging for Sirius to collect him later that evening when Remus walked in dressed very smartly in a muggle tuxedo. He glanced up and caught the amused and curious expressions on his friend's faces, blushing slightly.

"What?" He asked defensively. Sirius just grinned and looked him up and down. "I have a date." Snapped Remus irritably as his friend paced around him, looking him up and down.

"And who is the lucky man?" asked Sirius, earning a snort of amusement from Harry.

"Oh piss off, it's actually a lovely young lady." The other three continued to enjoy his discomfort "We're going to the opening night of _Il barbiere di Siviglia_" he added to explain his outfit.

"Uh huh" grunted Sirius in amusement "well you behave yourself now Moony, and make sure you're home by midnight." he brushed off a non-existent piece of dust from the jacket.

"Who is it?" asked Harry, curiously. Remus blush deepened and he mumbled an unintelligible response. "One more time for the people at the back?"

"Your form tutor, Fiona Watkins." Sirius eyebrows nearly disappeared into his hairline.

"Why Remus, you old dog!" punching him friendlily if a little harder than was absolutely necessary "When did you manage that? Wait a minute, I thought she thought you were gay?" Remus frowned at the memory and rubbed his shoulder.

"Yes, well she thought you were too." Sirius just grinned at the retort.

"What can I say, doesn't matter if you're male, female, gay, straight, bisexual or trisexual, no one can resist the Black charm." Arcturus and the rest of them just rolled her eyes.

"Trisexual?" asked Harry, not entirely sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"Try anything" Sirius said with a grin and a wink at the boy who groaned at the awful joke.

"Anyway" said Remus, eager to avoid any further awkward comments and knowing that giving a little information now would make both his and Harry's departure that much easier "while convincing her that you and I are not, in fact, a couple, we ended up talking and she mentioned her love of opera but said she hadn't been in ages so I offered to take her." He paused "To the opera." He said with a leer and a wink. He was a Marauder, after all.

"Wow Moony, that's a hell of a first date." Commented Sirius as Remus and Harry made their way out of the door, Harry dragging at the older man's hand, worried that they were going to be late.

"It's actually date number three!" Cried Remus as he shut the door behind him on Sirius' shocked face.

Wide-eyed, Sirius turned to look at his grandfather, who looked remarkably unsurprised and met his shocked gaze levelly. Sirius' eyes narrowed accusingly.

"You knew about this." He said waving towards the door and the departed figures.

"Of course," replied his grandfather "who do you think got him the tickets. And the tuxedo."

"But... but..." Sirius could only splutter in indignation at not being left out of Remus' love life, jaw working uselessly as he tried to work it out. Arcturus sighed resignedly.

"Sirius, please, close your mouth, you look like a fish." The jaw snapped shut and he glared at his grandfather, who studiously ignored him, returning to his study of a text on the different method of powering rune schemes.

"I thought you said I looked like an oik." He snapped childishly. The older Black just waved his hand dismissively and didn't look up.

"Fish, oik – Tom-ay-to, Tom-ah-to." He carefully hid his smirk as Sirius huffed in annoyance and went to make a start on dinner. He was certain that a part of Sirius' annoyance at Remus heading out this evening was that it meant Sirius would have to cook for himself or order take out. His suspicions were confirmed and he glanced fondly at the young man as he returned with a handful of takeaway menus and began rifling through them.

Despite the initially and understandably hostile reaction to his presence, he had thoroughly enjoyed becoming a part of this odd little family and now even had his own room where he was spending an increasing number of evenings . He had sincerely regretted not doing more to save the Black clan from breaking down during the last war and it had given him a genuine thrill to reacquaint himself and welcome the return of the prodigal son. Gone was the rash, rebellious teenager, though he was still evident in the ongoing prank war between them all, replaced by a remarkably responsible and occasionally mature adult and father figure to young Harry. Even the practical jokes that they seemed to be continuously playing on each other were used as teaching points as to how this charm or that spell could be used in surprisingly inventive ways and some of the stories that came out from their school days made him surprised that they hadn't been expelled. Remus too had proven to be a very entertaining character and Arcturus was glad that he had been able to do what little he had to secure his safety, even if it required the werewolf to swallow a large amount of his pride. Even now, he had the might of Lord Black working quietly behind the scenes for the legal re-evaluation of werewolves that would give him more freedom and require more, if not equal rights. Harry himself had been a delight. The product of two devoted parent figures in the form of Remus and Sirius, he was intelligent and a scarily quick study, soaking up knowledge in everything that they could teach him. It would not be long before they needed private tutors for all of his magical subjects as he would have outstripped their ability to teach him and he found himself thanking the powers that had kept him from going to Hogwarts. While he would no doubt have succeeded, he would not have been pushed anywhere near as much as he was here.

Arcturus shook himself from his revery, nodding in agreement at Sirius' suggestion of Chinese for dinner. While they waited for it's arrival, Sirius raised a very important topic.

"So, what are we going to do to Moony when he gets back tonight?" Arcturus smiled and shook his head.

"What makes you think he'll be back this evening?" he countered "Don't you have some ridiculous saying about third dates?"

"Well," blustered Sirius "yes, but this is _Moony_ we're talking about." he said by way of explanation "He needs a bit longer than most people and..." he noticed the twinkling in Arcturus' eyes "you've already done something haven't you?" he said in wonder, beginning to bounce like an excited child "Tell me tell me tell me!"

Arcturus just smiled. "My _pranks_ I don't think you, or Moony, fully appreciate just yet. But in this instance, I think he will thank me for it." Sirius' eyes narrowed as he waited for an answer. After a moment the elder man relented "There are charms on the box I've lent him, mild euphoria, reduced inhibitions, that sort of thing. Who knows, maybe it wont take or young friend so long this time around?" Sirius just looked confused.

"But that's not a prank!" He protested "Besides, the charms would wear off before the end of the evening, and then Moony's own awkwardness will show through and he'll be back tonight." He finished. He didn't wish failure on his friend and in fact secretly hoped that this relationship with Harry's teacher would be successful but he had seen too many in the past to think otherwise.

"Ten galleons says you're wrong." Sirius laughed and nodded.

"You could make it twenty, but then I'd just be taking more of your money and I'd feel bad for taking it from an old man."

Arcturus shrugged and ignored the barb, extending his hand to shake "Make it twenty then." Still chuckling, Sirius shook the proffered hand.

"Twenty it is, but don't come crying to me when you lose, I'll be too busy thinking about how I'm going to spend your hard earned money"

"No skin of my nose" said the old man "I was going to take it from your inheritance anyway."

Later that night, Sirius was once again grinning away and Harry was smiling for completely different reasons in the passenger seat of their car.

"So...?" began Sirius. He almost missed the blush that spread across Harry's cheeks.

"So what?" Harry desperately tried a combination of innocence and ignorance, earning an amused shake of the head from his godfather.

"So who is she, spill it." Harry's resolve disappeared instantly and he began to tell Sirius all about Victoria Hastings, a girl in the same year as him at the girls school near to Westminster and a friend of the Preston twins' cousin who went to the same school. Apparently they had hit it off over Harry's re-telling of the sheep story and had they had spent most of the night chatting together. Sirius had arrived to find his god-son sat very close to a pretty young blonde girl, both of whom blushed bright red when he had interrupted and the girl had stammered nervously when introducing herself. It had been almost as entertaining as Harry trying to be polite and gentlemanly when introducing himself to her parents, who had arrived shortly after and spirited her away, though not before the young love birds had been able to receive approval for another meeting the following evening with just the two of them.

"So a date then." Sirius grinned as they pulled into the parking space behind their house. Harry blushed even deeper and quickly got out of the car muttering quiet curses at Sirius through his embarrassment, only serving to further entertain his antagoniser.

Sirius' amusement died as they got back into the house and he saw Arcturus alone on the sofa where he had left him.

"Still no sign of Remus?" Arcturus just shook his head and smiled happily.

"What? I thought he had a date, why would he be back already?" Harry's curiosity over-rode his fatigue.

"Your god-father made a bet with me" explained Arcturus "twenty galleons that Remus would come home after his date with Miss Watkins tonight, I had faith in the young man and said that he would take her home instead." Harry nodded in understanding, he didn't need to ask what the assumption was if he didn't get back. He might only be eleven, but he had been raised by Sirius Black.

"Wait" he turned to the local Lothario accusingly "you've bet against Remus?!" Sirius shrugged. "I'm disappointed in you Siri" said Harry shaking his head in mock sadness "not angry, just disappointed." the effect of his chastisement was undermined by his smile as he bid Arcturus and Sirius a goodnight and went upstairs to bed.

As soon as he was sure that Harry wasn't going to be coming back down, Sirius turned to Arcturus with a broad grin. "So guess who else has a date tomorrow." Arcturus didn't even look up.

"Sirius, after your previous tales, I'm amazed that there's a woman in London you haven't slept with, and less surprised at your perpetual bachelor-hood, especially as you described your last girlfriend as... what was it?" he looked up to try and remember the phrase, frowning at the crudity "Ah yes, 'a walking, whining, witless wand-holster'" Sirius grinned at the memory "accuracy of the statement aside, I have no desire to hear about whichever poor girl is to be the next victim of your 'affections' and what's more, I think your phrasing leaves something to be desired." He gave his shameless grandson a stern look over the top of his glasses and couldn't resist adding a barb he knew would always get results "especially when you take up your position as head of the Black family." Sirius gulped and then carefully got down on his knees before the Black patriarch, looking sincerely up into his eyes.

"Please, never, ever, die." Arcturus snorted "I'm serious, can you imagine me in the Wizengamot?" Time for one of his father's favourite jokes.

"Yes, I'm aware that you are Sirius," he snapped playfully "I helped your mother pick the name. Though on that note, there's a meeting coming up that has an interesting proposal you will need to be aware of on..."

Sirius didn't find out what the proposal was as at that moment they were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. He grinned from his knees and was about to proclaim his victory when they also heard giggling and a desperate 'shushing' noise followed by the unmistakable sound of two people kissing. There was a thump and a clatter and further giggling that prompted further shushing and the two Blacks stared at each other in amazement. Sirius quickly sat himself on the sofa next to his grandfather and conjured a bowl of popcorn as they both watched the entry to the hallway that any guests would have to pass before going upstairs with the same anticipation that they had had for the reveal in their latest thriller.

After a couple of soft thumps of shoes being removed and another shushing noise followed by more kissing, a rather dishevelled looking Remus J. Lupin stuck his head around the corner. He stared at them, a little uncertain as to what to say and settled with "Ummm..." before a hand dragged him back behind the wall. There was a very brief moment when Sirius could have sworn he heard Remus say "follow my lead" and then he suddenly burst across the entryway, heading for the stairs calling out "Hadagreateveningthanksfortheticketsseeyoutomorrowgoodnight." He was dragging a rather flushed Miss Watkins who grinned and waved at them, but made showed no resistance to the man pulling her upstairs.

Sirius just turned to Arcturus, mouth still open and half filled with pop-corn. The older man was just looking at him, shaking his head sadly.

"Oik." He commented softly, helping himself to a handful of popcorn. Sirius' mouth closed with a crunch and he rapidly chewed before swallowing.

"Twenty galleons." He said, clearing his throat and holding out his hand.

"What?" Asked Arcturus, confused "I said he'd take her home, he has. You pay up." And thrust his own hand forwards.

"No no no," corrected Sirius wagging his finger "I bet you twenty galleons that Remus would come home after the date. He's home, I win, pay up." He gestured for the money and Arcturus frowned his disagreement.

"And I bet you that he would end up taking her home. He's here, she's here, ergo he took her home. You pay up." He gestured for the money himself and the two men scowled at each other.

They still hadn't reached an agreement when Sirius shook Harry awake at six o'clock the next morning.

"Mmmpphhh" He glanced at the glowing clock next to his bed and glared at his godfather "What the hell Sirius, it's six on a Saturday." Sirius grinned and nodded back at him, leaning down to whisper in his ear.

"Remus bought your teacher back last night, she's not left yet and we need your help to prank them." Harry was awake and out of bed in seconds.

"Well why didn't you say so then?" He hissed angrily at Sirius and they both made their way rapidly down the stairs to join Arcturus in the kitchen where he was preparing breakfast for them all. Harry sniffed appreciatively at the frying bacon and eggs, pouring himself a cup of coffee. "So, what have you got planned?"

"Ummm" Sirius looked awkward.

Arcturus grinned and said over his shoulder "He can't use magic because she's a muggle and he's drawing a blank." Harry shot his godfather an incredulous look, shaking his head in mock disappointment.

"Prepare to be schooled by a master." He said authoritatively, earning a snort from Sirius and a laugh from Arcturus as Harry poured another coffee and adding a little milk to Remus' taste. Giving it a quick stir, Harry nodded for Sirius to follow him and with a "Coming, Granddad?" Arcturus grinned and moved the bacon off the heat to follow. It was Harry's turn to chuckle as he saw the 'Kiss the Cook' apron the old man was wearing, and shook his head as he made his way up to Remus' room. He motioned for them to wait and listen outside the room and then went in.

"Morning Remus!" He said loudly, pretending not to notice the head that hurriedly ducked under the covers and the wriggling as various limbs were withdrawn from sight. He put the coffee down on the side and moved over to open the curtains and studiously ignored Remus' glare and the rather strained

"Morning Harry, would you mind..." Harry turned and pasted a look of mock surprise on his face as he noticed the clothes scattered around the room, grinning evilly at Remus who shook his head, pleading silently for a pass on the prank that was coming.

"Oh" exclaimed Harry in his best innocent schoolboy voice "I didn't realise you had a visitor. Would Sarah like a coffee too?" The wriggling under the covers stopped and gave off a very angry vibe even through the blanket. "Oops... not Sarah. Rachel?" Remus, face was getting redder and redder. "Lucy?" tried Harry not at all helpfully. Remus grabbed a book from the bedside table and hurled it at the boy, who caught it easily and grinned as he made his way quickly towards the door before any further missiles could be launched, sniggering now audible from the hallway as Harry continued trying different names "Harriet? Susan? Honestly Remus, there have been so many you can't expect me to keep up!" he gave a yelp as his victim caught him with a wandless stinging hex just as he left and called from the safety of the hallway "breakfast in ten!"

Sirius embraced his godson in a tight hug before holding him at arms length to beam down into his face "I have never been more proud of you than I am at this moment" he choked out, pulling him into another hug. Arcturus just chuckled and patted Harry on the back as they made their way back down for breakfast.

"Truly inspired my boy. Especially impressive considering you'd been awake for only five minutes."

Sirius was still beaming with pride "Your father would be so proud." Harry just grinned up at both men.

"Well I did learn from the best. And Sirius." He got a playful shove from his godfather as Arcturus served out the bacon and eggs. Ten minutes later, an irritated Remus entered in a dressing gown, followed by a very red-faced Fiona Watkins in a pair of Remus' pyjama bottoms and a tee-shirt that was actually rather fetching on the normally conservative teacher. Harry just grinned at her "Morning Miss!" and her blush deepened.

"You're dead, pup." Growled Remus in mock anger, prompting laughter from the three Blacks as he helped himself and Fiona to a plate of breakfast.

After some very awkward attempts at conversation over the breakfast table which mostly resulted in Remus or Fiona blushing while the other three sniggered at their discomfort. Eventually Fiona summed up her courage.

"Now Harry," she began, desperately trying to be serious "I just want you to know that any relationship between Remus and I wont affect your relationship with me as a teacher." The rest of the table just smiled.

"No worries miss, so long as you don't take it out on me when this idiot" he waved at Remus "does something stupid." Arcturus let out a bark of laughter at Harry's response and the man in question rolled his eyes. Fiona gave up and just smiled, shaking her head.

A rather long shower and a few more jokes at her expense later, Fiona was re-dressed in her outfit from the previous evening and was saying goodbye to Remus at the front door. She glanced out, looking for her taxi. "Wouldn't it be nice to be driven around in one of those." She commented, smiling up at Remus at the black Bentley that oozed class as it drove down the street. He gave her an odd look.

"Umm, who did you ask to call you a taxi?" he questioned cautiously, knowing the answer anyway.

"Arcturus, why? He's such a nice man isn't he..." She paused and looked at the car that was slowing down in front of their house and just stared at Remus incredulously.

"Yes" he replied dryly, smiling at the old man's sense of humour and taking Fiona's arm as he walked her down the steps "He's also Lord Black and the owner of the box last he kindly let us use last night. And this car. Among others."

Fiona was left speechless as the driver exited the car and opened a door with the Black family crest picked out in an even darker black on it for her with a small bow. Remus gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek as she got in the car, speechless at the opulence within the car as she settled into the large, sofa-like seat at the back. Remus was just turning away when Harry ran up to the car and addressed her through the window.

"Oh, Miss Watkins, I just wanted to say I hope you had a really nice evening last night and I'm sorry for the prank this morning. It was all Sirius' fault." She smiled at him, blushing slightly at the memory.

"Don't worry about it Harry, I may be a teacher, but I can appreciate a good joke." Harry's smiled and then turned deadly serious.

"Good, but this next part isn't a joke." He pointed at Remus "You hurt him and I'll make your life a living hell." Fiona Watkins was literally speechless, as was Remus. In a flash, the smile was back on Harry's face "That's all I wanted to say, see you in school!" and he walked back up the steps and into the house, leaving Remus and his form tutor staring after him, mouths hanging open in surprise.

/

The rest of that morning was spent in the training room with Sam and Mr Smith, who arrived shortly after breakfast. Sirius and Arcturus insisted on squaring off first to settle their bet, the revelation of which led to further outrage on Remus' behalf and Sirius insisting that he was, in fact, betting on Remus to 'close' as he called it, though not to much success. Remus was more than happy to take on Harry, feeling that he deserved a chance to pay him back for the prank this morning, even if he had been touched by Harry's protectiveness over him.

Mr Smith just shrugged and accepted the pairings and told them to swap wands.

"What?" asked Sirius "Why?" Mr Smith rolled his eyes. He'd have to beat Sirius in some suitably embarrassing fashion to reinforce the lesson that Mr Smith should be obeyed, not questioned.

"How many times have you lost your wand during a duel or a fight?" He didn't wait for an answer "Your friends may also end up incapacitated" he didn't have to add 'or dead' "and you may well find yourself fighting with their wand." He paused and considered Harry carefully for a moment "I also think we're now all at a level where we can start thinking about fighting using two wands at once." Harry's eyes widened in surprise. He had heard of second wands, though he didn't have one yet, but he had never heard of anyone fighting using two wands at once. Judging by the looks on Sirius and Remus' faces, neither had they, though Arcturus was nodding pensively and Sam was grinning in anticipation.

The first pair to fight were Arcturus and Sirius. Harry had seen them face off several times before and had admired both their styles for different reasons. Sirius favoured rapid spell-work, transfiguration and animation of the debris that cluttered the battlefield and was nimble enough to incorporate Sam's combat skills in dodging behind cover. Arcturus was much more controlled – having had a significant amount more experience and years of study, his skill repertoire was vast and sometimes skated along the border of what was considered 'Dark' or crossed over for a full on holiday on the wild side.

The duel started and was over fairly quickly. Sirius, trying to get used to the new wand, found that his shield was not quite as powerful as he expected and while it took Arcturus' first bludgeoning spell without a problem, shattered with a tinkling noise at the first of two quick stunners that followed it, surprising him enough that he didn't dodge and he came to seconds later after Mr Smith's enervate.

"You see the importance of familiarising yourself with different wands?" Asked Mr Smith rhetorically and his audience nodded seriously "Each new wand will have a slightly different effect. It may be small and you might not even notice it, sometimes it will be big and the wand might barely work for you, which is why you should also practice wandless magic." Harry gulped audibly and Mr Smith grinned at him "We'll get you there by the end of the holidays kid, after that it's a case of practice until you're happy swapping wands or not using one. You'll always get the best effect from your own though and I recommend seeing a wand maker for a second wand that will match you as closely as possible."

As he finished his lesson points, me motioned for Remus and Harry to take their positions in the arena that had been set up. Remus grinned evilly at Harry.

"Don't you worry pup, I'll go easy on you." Harry returned the smile and just shook his head at the older man.

"Don't," He replied "there's no lesson to be learned for me in you taking it easy." Remus raised his eyebrows a little in surprise, while Mr Smith and Sam just nodded in approval. Harry considered for a moment and waved at his face "Just don't damage the money-maker, I've got a date tonight."

Remus' amusement at the statement almost had him miss Mr Smith's "Begin" and the fight could have been over before it even began. Harry found Remus' wand noticeably different from his own. It was lighter in his hand for starters and though he could feel the magic that it wanted to channel, it was like the flood that was normally available was somehow restricted, the wand a narrow pipe too thin for the force of the water behind it. On the plus side, he found he could control the spells just as well as with his own wand and some of the delicate movements were somehow... easier with the lighter wand. Better for finesse than his own, but stopped him from putting any of the power behind it that he was used to. Remus meanwhile looked like he was struggling to control the power that was available from Harry's wand, his spells coming out over-charged but often suffering for accuracy.

The spells flew between them thick and fast as they became more familiar with their new weapons, Harry's swarm of wasps that split formation and attacked from several directions at once burned out of the sky by an large jet of flame from Remus, the size of which surprised even him and had a shout of apology as Harry was forced to quickly roll out of the way. Several quick stunners from Harry barely even registered on Remus' shield and the werewolf grinned at his impending win. He sent a bludgeoner that who dived over, tucking his shoulder into a roll and coming up into a crouch, sending a slug-spitting curse and a leg-locker back the way they came each precise movement flowing into the other even as he threw himself out of the way of Remus' stunner, the red beam twice as wide as usual.

Remus side-stepped Harry's curses, not bothering to shield and recognised Harry's tactic. His spells were having no effect on Remus' too-strong shields so he was using each dodge and roll to bring him closer to his opponent. Inwardly, Remus was impressed - it was a sound tactic and would reduce his own ability to send curses towards Harry as he could cast as quickly through the new wand, but it also had it's disadvantages. Though Harry was well built for his age with a strength that came from both rugby and Sam's martial arts lessons, he was still only an eleven year old boy, whereas Remus was a fully grown man and had the size advantage and experience of his extra years.

Harry span, changing direction at the last minute, allowing the babbling hex to skim past him. Finally close enough! He thought and his leg flashed out, toe connecting just inside Remus' wrist. Harry watched as his wand span out of the other man's hand and continued his spin to stun his opponent.

Remus was pissed. He had known this was coming, knew what to do to stop it and Harry had still surprised him. He had expected a kick to the legs or a punch to the stomach. Instead, Harry had struck at his wand hand, knocking the wand away and out of reach of both of them. He snarled with more anger than he intended, left arm flashing out and catching him in a vicious uppercut that span him off his feet.

"Merlin, Remus! Be careful!" Cried Sirius from the sidelines. His momentary loss of control over, Remus carefully rolled Harry over, concern etched on his features. The boy's jaw looked out of shape and his face contorted in pain as he mumbled something.

"Oh crap, Harry I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit you that hard" Remus carefully assessed the damage and Harry mumbled something again, trying to stress the pronunciation. The older man lent in closer "What? I can't make it... oh sh-"

His last words were cut off as Harry finally managed to mumble out "Stupefy" and Remus collapsed next to him in unconsciousness. Harry pushed himself to his feet and tried to grin at his small audience but just ended up grimacing in pain instead. He did have a broken jaw after all.

After waking Remus up and repairing Harry's jaw, Mr Smith addressed them again.

"So another point to learn from here is wordless casting. You guys" He pointed at Sam, Sirius, Remus and Arcturus "may be familiar with this already but you should certainly practice it and become more comfortable with it. Harry, we'll begin work on that soon as well. For now, I want you to try sub-vocalising, start by saying it under your breath and then we'll progress to saying nothing at all. From there it's not too far to wandless casting as well." Harry just nodded in understanding and rubbed his jaw.

For the rest of the morning, they practiced with each other's wands, progressing from casting simple spells and then duelling with them. Harry found that Sirius' wand had a less restricted magic flow than Remus' but that it felt raw and rough around the edges when he was using it, like a poorly trained dog straining at the leash; Sam's had a similar feeling to Remus' in that he couldn't draw as much power from it, but when he tried transfiguring one of the chairs into a wolf, it was even more life-like than when he used his own wand; Mr Smith's flat out refused to work for anyone but him and he grinned at them when they asked him about it, saying he had found a very obscure spell that locked it to his magical signature. Trying to cast with Arcturus' on the other hand, felt like being beaten over the head with a freight train. When Harry cast a piercing curse at the targets set up at the far end of the room, the target nearly obliterated - the beam moved so quickly that they could hardly see it and the damage it left was phenomenal, punching out a hole as wide as a dinner plate and denting the far wall.

Sirius whistled his appreciation and turned to his grandfather "What the hell did you make your wand from?!" Arcturus just shrugged, just as surprised by the effect as everyone else.

"Thestral hair and yew, thirteen and a half inches." He looked at the target and then at Harry with interest "It's never done that before though." He mused, Harry just blushed slightly at the attention and tried a few more spells. He came to the conclusion that if Sirius' wand was like a dog straining at a leash, Arcturus' was like trying to ride a partly trained stallion. As soon as he provided it with direction, it released a massive amount of magical power that was both invigorating and intimidating at the same time.

By lunch time, they had established that even the best of their basic shields couldn't stand up to more than one shot from Harry wielding Arcturus' wand and that it required a high powered mage shield to last for much longer than a couple of hits. He handed it back to it's owner with a small amount of reluctance as they headed up for a light lunch, returning to the training room for Sam's lessons in wandless combat for the afternoon.

She grinned around at them and cracked open the case she had bought with her, pulling forth several training swords and staffs, taking in the looks of eager anticipation on their faces as she began her brief introduction.

"Right then" she drawled, scarred lips smirking at them "magic, as we all know, is as old as history itself. We started off pretty brutally, almost exclusively using staff and sword to channel magic and use as a weapon until wands became more common around the birth of Christ. Due to the cost and difficulty of harvesting the components and the skill required to make them though, weapons continued to be used for another thousand years after this and are now mostly used as decorations or props for history lessons." Everyone nodded in understanding as she carried on. "Today we're going to start with basic use of the weapons, and we'll continue until we're competent with their use. Then" she added with a positively devilish grin and a nod towards Mr Smith "we'll start with the basics of casting through them and incorporate them into combat."

By the end of the afternoon, Harry was positively exhausted. When begging Sirius and Remus failed completely to earn him a Pepper-Up potion, he dosed himself with coffee and began to prepare, several hours early and much to the amusement of everyone else, for his date with Victoria and left to their cackles of amusement on his first date.

Hogwarts pre Christmas holidays:

"Albus, have you come to any conclusion about the new Defence Professor?" Asked Minerva McGonagall over a snifter of fire-whiskey. Albus Dumbledore just hmmed and sipped at his own drink, eyes twinkling merrily.

"Do you know, I think I have?" He replied cheerfully "I know I should feel bad about this, but I'm almost hoping the 'curse' takes action sooner rather than later, apparently he's even been seen sniffing around one of the girl's toilets? Most inappropriate." Minerva just looked at him in horror at the calm attitude with which the headmaster seemed to be approaching this problem, especially with the revelation that Professor Quirrell seemed to be some sort of pervert as well. He met her shocked gaze with another small smile. "Don't worry Minerva, if he does anything other than pester Moaning Myrtle, I shall take action and I shall not be renewing his contract at the end of term anyway." Somewhat mollified, McGonagall relaxed back into her chair, floating the bottle of Scottish sunshine over and topping herself up.

"What about the Other Thing?" she asked after a pause, careful not to mention It by name but clearly capitalising it none-the-less. She received another infuriating smile in response as Albus waved a complicated secrecy charm over them as casually as most would call for the bill in a restaurant, preventing anyone other than themselves from listening in.

"Oh I gave it back to it's owner." Replied the headmaster airily, enjoying seeing how many emotions he could incite in his deputy during a single conversation. "I think we shall leave the defences in place and avoid informing anyone else. I've put a rather ingenious trap at the end that should be reward enough for anyone seeking that particular route to eternal life." McGonagall just rubbed her eyes and sighed in exasperation.

_I'm getting to old for this shit._ She thought quietly to herself as Dumbledore smiled again and sipped at his whiskey.

Hogwarts post Christmas holidays.

"Hey Hermione" said Neville he greeted his bushy haired friend with a hug "did you get any further with your hunt for Rugby-Boy?" Since the aftermath of Troll-gate, as one of the muggle-born students had nicknamed it, and with the help of the letters and notes that passed between them during her recuperation, Hermione and Neville had become good friends. Ron Weasley's half-hearted attempts at apologising had been frostily accepted, but meant that whenever they hung out he usually excused himself to try and convert Seamus Finnegan from football to quidditch, or convince someone to play him at wizarding chess. Hermione was sure she could give him a run for his money but to be honest, that would involve spending more time than she wanted to in the red-heads company and besides, the game was rather too barbaric for her tastes.

"No," she sighed in frustration "Dad couldn't remember his name and said he can't use his records to find out because of doctor-patient confidentiality." She had told Neville about the mysterious boy who, apart from being magical and not at Hogwarts, was also well versed in ancient runes. "I literally have no idea where to go from here apart from hoping that he comes into dad's surgery at some point and that dad recognises him." Neville shrugged sympathetically.

"And what are the odds of that?" Hermione just grimaced and held finger and thumb up pressed close together. "What about going to a load of rugby matches and seeing if you recognise him there? Surely there'd be a school game you could get to over Easter or maybe at half-term?"

At this suggestion, Hermione brightened up considerably. The identity of the boy had been bugging her since she returned to school. After dismissing Neville's original suggestion of asking Dumbledore or McGonagall with the argument that if he was magical and not at Hogwarts he would have refused his letter or from a different country and therefore they probably wouldn't know about him. Besides, she rather liked the idea of being able to solve this mystery herself.

And that was how, over half term and then again during her Easter holidays, Hermione found herself on the sidelines of rugby pitches throughout the London area. Neville had kindly kept her company during her investigations though he had quickly become more interested in watching the game than looking for Hermione's mysterious Rugby-Boy. Today they were watching a team from Westminster play a re-match against another boy's school called Smeltings and from what he had been able to determine from a few careful questions to the fans around them, there was no small amount of bad blood between the two schools.

Neville grinned savagely as the teams ran onto the pitch. He wanted to see blood! Hermione on the other hand had rather given up on her search and was now just watching the game and the crowd with idle curiosity grateful and had found herself enjoying Neville's company. She wished they had managed to get better seats though. The view was good, at the end of one of the rows of seats next to the stairs that ran to the top of the stands and only a few rows from the front, it was just that the people sat next to them were a horse faced woman and her disturbingly large husband who spilled unapologetically onto the seat next to him.

As the game started, the fat man began to bellow loud encouragement to the Smeltings team and in particular to someone by the moniker of "Big D". By half time, she was worried that he was going to give himself a heart attack, a concern apparently shared by his wife with her pleas of "Calm down Vernon". He became increasingly irate when the fly-half from Westminster was changed to a dark haired youth with 'BLACK' stencilled on the back of his jersey above a big number ten. Hermione perked up a bit, thinking that this could be Rugby-Boy, but couldn't see his face.

"You see that little turd, Pet?" hissed Fat-Man to Horse-Face "That's the little shit that got Dudders sent off last time – cost them the game too, can you believe it?!" He calmed slightly at his wife's insistence and satisfied himself with muttering obscenities about the Winchester team in general and the new fly-half in particular which prompted Hermione to cheer internally for the new player while she continued to crowd watch.

"Sweet Merlin, this kid can play" whispered Neville on her other side, calling her attention back to the game some five minutes later. The Westminster line had advanced by some twenty yards and were pushing further forwards with a scrum, when the ball popped out and was flipped straight to Black's hands. He sprinted to the right of the scrum, lining up as much clear space as possible for a run up the pitch. Hermione still hadn't picked up on many of the rules, but she could appreciate the speed and skill this player showed as he back peddled and then spun away from the nearside flanker, much to the chagrin of Fat Man who screamed his fury with a "No Dudley! Bloody stop him!" that identified the Smeltings' number seven as his son.

_Almost as fat as the father_, mused Hermione, _no wonder he can't catch that boy, he's built like a whippet! _If anything the Westminster number ten increased in speed, glancing over his shoulder to see if anyone was chasing him, then deftly side-stepping the tackle from another Smeltings player. With an open field ahead of him, the boy sprinted for the try-line, leaving his own and the opposing team behind him to roars of approval from his approval and groans of defeat from the home crowd. "Test him for steroids!" Screamed Fat-Man as Hermione rolled her eyes.

Hermione almost didn't register the rest of the game she was so shocked. As the Winchester number ten had run back to the half-way line, waving to someone in the front row, she had recognised him – it was Rugby-Boy! She hissed her discovery to Neville, who began paying more attention to him and was impressed by what he saw of the player who orchestrated two more tries for other players before claiming one for himself before time was called with Westminster's score at 34 and Smeltings' at eighteen. Hermione, flushed with exhilaration jumped to her feet to applaud and then grabbed Neville by the hand, dragging him down towards the pitch.

"Come on!" She cried "Let's go find out who he is." Neville just laughed and pulled her back, smiling at the confusion on her face as he stopped her.

"Just clap for now Hermione," he explained "let him grab a shower and we'll catch him afterwards." Grudgingly accepting his decision, Hermione opted to cheer her support loudly, aiming to irritate the obnoxious Smeltings supporters as much as possible as the Westminster team celebrated on the pitch.

Thirty minutes later, they were watching the players leave the stadium and head towards various groups of waiting friends and family.

"There he is!" Squealed the young witch and again made to move forwards as Black left the changing rooms, waving at someone he recognised and heading to join them. "Come on!" She grabbed Neville's hand and began to drag him across the car park.

"Harry!" came a girl's cry, and Hermione's advance slowed considerably as an attractive blonde girl about their own age ran across the car park towards Rugby-Boy, who promptly dropped his kit bags and caught the girl as she threw herself at him and wrapped her legs around his waist, giving him an enthusiastic kiss he seemed more than happy to return. They were joined shortly by two middle-aged men, a much older and distinguished looking gentleman, and an attractive woman in glasses, all laughing at the youthful display of affection before bestowing their own, more reserved congratulations on the player.

"Merlin's left tit!" breathed Neville as he pulled Hermione up short, stopping her advance completely. She turned, an annoyed expression on her face.

"Neville," she chastised "must you swear like that?" He just looked at her incredulously.

"Do you have any idea who that is?!" He asked in a whisper, waving discretely at the small group who were now making their way over to a large black car and it's attending driver. She just shook her head, confusion growing. He pulled her behind a car that allowed them to keep the others in sight.

"That" he said, pointing at the elderly gentleman "is Lord Arcturus Black, one of the only Black family members not either dead or in Azkaban or disowned for not being dark enough!" He explained in an excited whisper "That" he said pointing to the middle-aged man with his arm around the woman "is Remus Lupin, he was a friend of my parents during the last war and so was he" he said pointing at the last man, who had picked up the rugby player's kit bag and had a proud grin on his face as he laughed and joked with the two younger members of the party "is Sirius Black, he disappeared over ten years ago just after He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's defeat." He paused for breath and looked at Hermione with awe in his eyes and she just returned a questioning gaze, not knowing where he was going with this.

"And?" She asked archly "Why did we have to hide behind a car for you to tell me this?"

"Don't you see?! This means that that" he pointed at the rugby player, who was now getting into the car "is Harry bloody Potter!"

Hermione Granger did not swear. Ever. But if she did, she would have been thinking _Well flip me._

_A/N Well, longest chapter yet, I hope you like it. I'm going to get as much done as possible before I go back to work next week which should hopefully take it as far as end of second year if not beyond but there might be a break after that. I'll do my best to not leave it on too much of a cliff hanger._

_Thank you very much to everyone who has left a review, please keep reading and keep reviewing, it's always good to hear what you guys have to say._

_YA,_

_Notsoancientmariner_


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N - Hey folks, so this is another long chapter. It might seem a little disjointed, but there are two reasons for that. First, I wanted to cover a lot of time as quickly as possible and this seemed the best way to do it. There are a couple of filler scenes that I have kicking around my head at the moment, but they don't translate to paper as well as I want them to. Second, I got home late last night and wrote it when I was a little less than clear headed and began writing. I've taken out the bits that make no sense at all, but some of it was pretty entertaining (to me anyway) so I've left that in._

_Anyway, hope you enjoy!_

"So let me get this straight" said Hermione, confusion still clear on her face "Harry Potter, who disappeared after defeating He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named as a baby, hasn't been found by mercenaries, private detectives, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, or any of the remaining Death Eaters who escaped a prison sentence, was found by us" she waved at herself and Neville, who just nodded, paying more attention to his History of Magic essay that was due the next morning "two first year students." She paused to consider everything she had just said and slapped Neville lightly on the arm to gain his attention. "Doesn't that seem strange to you?!"

The target of her diatribe just shrugged. "Magic?" he tried tentatively. She gave him a skeptical look that went on so long it almost seemed constipated. He put his pen down and waved his hands to either side "Ta-daaa." Hermione just sighed in irritation.

"I still think we should go to McGonagall." She said, completely disregarding his lack of concern. Neville crossed out another word in his essay and gave her the exasperated look of someone who has explained a point several times before and was now resigned to repeating himself until the other party realised he was right.

"You do understand why they disappeared, check?" he started.

"Check." Replied Hermione with a firm nod.

"And the world has remained safe since their disappearance and we don't know that no one else _hasn't _ found them, only that if they have found them, they haven't then been in a position to tell anyone about it, check?"

"Check" Came the response after a moments nervous consideration.

"So what possible benefit would we, or the wizarding world, have in trying to expose them?"

Hermione stopped to consider this point for a moment, desperately trying to reason with Neville's arguments against her. _'Because this would prove that we're smarter than everyone else'_ didn't quite cut it when it was weighed against someone else's happiness or her and Neville's lives. It did come pretty close though.

"But we found him! We found Harry ffff- Harry fllii-" much to Neville's amusement, she failed to swear and ended up just huffing in irritation "oh, we found Harry Potter..." She sighed in frustration, running a hand through her bushy hair. "I suppose you're right" and returned to her own essay. Neville paused for a moment, enjoying the rarity of Hermione Granger admitting anyone else other than her was right, before simply shaking his head in astonishment and returned to his essay.

/

Towards the end of the summer term, buried somewhere towards the back of the Daily Prophet, the following article could be found:

_**Another Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher Succumbs to Curse**_

_**By Nicholas Obody-Givsashid**_

_Professor Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry of which our readers are no doubt familiar, today released a statement regarding the recent incapacitation of the latest incumbent of the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts tutor:_

"_Well I suppose we all knew it was coming."_

_A replacement teacher for next year has been announced as the winner of Teen Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award, Gilderoy Lockhart. Apparently this is what the bottom of the barrel looks like people. Oh Merlin's salty right nut I hate my job... wait, is this thing still dictating? Fuck it, what page am I on? No-one will be reading this and it's my last day anyway. _

_Titty twizlers._

Albus smiled as he read the article. Nicholas had always been such an enjoyable student to teach and had always handed in the most well worded essays. Such a shame his particular brand of humour would be leaving the _Prophet._ He turned to the puzzle page and conjured a pencil to work with.

"What actually happened to Professor Quirrell?" Asked McGonagall, studiously ignoring the Sorting Hat as it greeted her in it's typically acerbic fashion.

"Oh, turns out he was playing host to a shade of Voldemort's soul." He said idly, focusing instead on the cross-word at the back of the paper and completely missing McGonagall's look of horror.

"We had He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named teaching children?!" her face paled at the thought of what could have been. Dumbledore just hmmed in acknowledgement as he filled in a few more letters in his puzzle.

"Mhmm. Got caught in that trap at the end of all your challenges. I fear the shade of the soul escaped, but poor Quirinus was killed by it. Never fear though, I spoke to the goblins and they very kindly sent over one of their Master Warders who added a filter that now places a tracker visible only to the headmaster onto any more of these Horcruxes... Horcruxi?" he finished with a question, while his deputy just shrugged helplessly. _Just what was the plural for Horcrux? _Wondered Albus Dumbledore.

"You think there are more?" Questioned McGonagall incredulously.

"Oh undoubtedly." Replied Dumbledore, calm voice completely at odds with the serious nature of the conversation. "In fact, it had all ready found another one – Rowena Ravenclaw's old diadem. Such a shame, priceless artefact like that warped so... Female, four letters, ends with 'unt'?" he tried with a hopeful look on his face. McGonagall just stared at him, shock clear on her face while the Sorting Hat gleefully screamed its suggestion from the far side of the room. McGonagall flinched, while Dumbledore utilised several years of practice and ignored it.

"You found Ravenclaw's diadem? I thought that had been lost for centuries?" _Sometimes,_ she thought, _you just have one of those days._ Dumbledore just shrugged at her, eyes twinkling.

"Found it" he said in a sing-song voice. McGonagall shook her head, deciding that now was the time to leave before Albus sprang any further surprises on her. She turned back, one hand on the door way.

"Oh, the word you were looking for is 'aunt'" she began to make her way down the rotating staircase while Dumbledore looked at the crossword and frowned.

"Minerva!" he called, and the stairs began to rotate in the opposite direction, bringing her backwards back up the stairs. She hated it when he did that, it always made her feel sick. The Head of the Wizengamot, Supreme Mugwump and Headmaster of Hogwarts looked at her over his glasses "I don't suppose you have an eraser do you?"

/

Black Residence

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Fiona Watkins was standing in the doorway wearing high-heels, suspenders, a push-up bra and a wide open overcoat. Sirius, Remus, Arcturus, Harry, Mr Smith and Sam all stared at her.

"Ummmm" tried Sirius.

"It's not what it looks like?" came Remus' attempt.

Sam looked at him incredulously "Does that line even work any more?"

"WHAT THE FUCK?" repeated Fiona with her hands on her hips, not quite realising the view she was presenting as she glared at the five adults and the almost-teenaged boy who had been waving what she had originally thought was the latest in laser gun technology at each other until Lord Black, the sweet, kind old man who had just lent her and Remus his opera box for the performance of _Die Meistersinger_, produced a flamethrower that destroyed a small flock of birds conjured by one of her favourite students.

"Erm, Remus" tried Sirius again turning towards his friend as he happily grabbed a leant over and snatched a handful of popcorn from the bowl in Remus' lap "care to cover this one?"

Remus Lupin at least had the decency to blush. "I didn't realise you guys would be back so soon. I invited her over and then when Harry suggested a quick sparring session..." the view his girlfriend was presenting them all finally registered with him "Stop staring!" Fiona Watkins also realised just how exposed she was and snatched her overcoat closed, turned, and ran from the training room.

"Oh fuck" swore Remus before following her.

"We should really sort those wards out." Said Sirius idly.

"Don't you fucking dare" snapped Arcturus with surprising vigour, an obvious indication that while he had made his best effort at improving their manners and sensibilities, the Marauders and Harry had also made fair headway in destroying his. He noted Harry's shocked expression at his outburst and shrugged apologetically. "She's got a great rack." Mr Smith, Sirius, Harry and Sam just nodded in agreement and Harry casually stunned his great-grandfather in the back before adding five points that would be hotly contested to the score-board.

/

Three months and an extra-ordinary large number of obliviations later...

"Wait, so magic is real?" Asked Fiona Watkins, staring around at the three men and a boy... well, two men, a man-child named Sirius and a boy, in front of her. Harry, one of her favourite students, sighed and rubbed his face with both hands before looking up exasperatedly at Remus with an expression that said _Again? You're going to have this conversation with her again?!_

"You really want to see Sirius turn into a dog again?" He asked tiredly. Fiona slumped back into the chair. She waved him off.

"No" she shuddered at the memory of the giant hound trying to hump her leg "Oh Jesus-shitting-Christ no."

"Language!" Chastised Remus quickly, motioning towards Harry who was remaining focused on his Russian translation homework.

"Don't apologise to me" said Harry carelessly, not even looking up from task "I don't give a fuck." Sirius just grinned. There was a pause as Fiona processed this, Remus watching her in the hope that she would accept this better than the last three times he had tried to explain to her about the magical world.

"So if he's the one who can turn into a dog, why is you they call 'pet'?" Remus slumped in dejection; this was where it usually quite so horribly wrong last time and ended up with her stabbing him in the leg with a fork. He checked quickly for any errant cutlery.

"It's a long story" explained Remus carefully "and I think it would be best if I told you another time."

Fiona just shook her head in amazement "How did I miss all this?" Harry snickered, still not looking up, while Remus turned bright red and wilted under Fiona's accusing glare. "What?"

"Go on then _pet_" said Sirius, grin still stretching his cheeks as he gratefully accepted the bowl of popcorn from his grandfather as they settled in to watch the show "tell Miss Watkins how she missed all this."

/

Hogwarts, half way through summer term

"Merlin Hermione! Will you please just let this go?" Begged Neville for what felt like the millionth time as he and Hermione made their way back from the great hall.

"But it's Harry fllll... Harry fliii.." She desperately tried but failed completely and if anything looked more miserable than before. Neville patted her sympathetically on the back.

"You'll get there Hermione. And yes, I know it's Harry _flipping_ Potter" he stressed the very mild expletive with a grin "but you have to realise that it's their choice to stay hidden." He had been through this argument far too many times and in a desperate attempt to prevent another one, ended with "Look, if it will mean that you stop bugging me for the rest of term about it, I'll write to my dad and see if he's got an address for Lord Black, I'll tell him we're doing a summer project on magical history and the main families or something, would that help?" Hermione just squealed and threw her arms around her friend. He pushed her off and gave her his best serious look "But if they want to stay hidden, they stay hidden" She nodded excitedly in agreement, still smiling at him. As he turned back towards Gryffindor tower he added "Just for the record, if they kill us to hide their secret, I'm going to be really pissed off with you." His bushy haired friend just grinned at him and tucked her arm through his and dragged him in the direction of the owlery instead.

"I can deal with that, now let's go write this letter!"

With Hermione's rather forceful encouragement, Neville wrote to his father that evening, and the following evening he received a reply in his father's shaky but legible handwriting.

_Dear Neville,_

_I'm glad you're not planning on wasting your entire summer, but do make sure you leave a little time for some rest and relaxation as well!_

_Lord Black can be reached by owl, address it to 'Lord Black, 12 Grimmauld Place' and it should get there without a problem. I have taken the liberty of writing him as well to let him know that you would be contacting him so it wont come as a complete shock. I would advise you to remember all the manners your grandmother taught you when speaking to him though and do avoid any touchy subjects._

_Your mum's out at work but sends her love, as do I and gran. Looking forward to seeing you in a week._

_Dad_

/

"Well this is interesting" said Arcturus, to no one in particular and gaining everyone's attention. He read out the letter he had received from the Longbottom scion.

"_Dear Lord Black,_

_I am Neville Longbottom, son of …_ blah blah blah … _Project for History of Magic_... boring boring boring …_ ancient families … _yadda yadda yadda … _ may we ask you some questions,_

_Yours Sincerely_

Whatever_"_

Arcturus hmmd and passed the letter the Remus who was sat on the sofa with a coffee.

"Actually, that doesn't sound very interesting at all." Said Sirius from his position at the breakfast table, still in dressing gown and pyjamas despite it being mid-afternoon, spooning a bowl of cornflakes into his mouth. Remus finished scanning the letter and passed it back up to the addressee, shrugging his agreement with Sirius' statement. Arcturus just sighed in exasperation.

"I keep forgetting that despite how you act, you two aren't actually eleven years old any more," the Marauders turned and grinned at each other "cast your feeble minds back, how much extra work did you do over your summer holidays?" Realisation dawned on their faces.

"Huh." Said Sirius after a moment's pause. "What are we going to do about it?"

"Initially? Answer their questions and see how long it takes for them to ask me about Harry."

"What if it's a trap?" asked Remus cautiously and Arcturus nodded thoughtfully. He looked between Sirius and Remus.

"There are some people I've been meaning to introduce you to for a while. Family. Well, two of them are, and very handy men and women to know." If anything, this was bound to perk both Marauder's curiosity. "I'll make a call and we can go meet them one night this week." He ignored the bowl of Floo powder Remus offered him, heading instead for the phone in the corner that had been installed by Sirius and then been re-installed by Remus with several attachments that would prevent magical or regular eavesdropping or tracing.

Two days later, Harry, Remus, Sirius and Arcturus were sat down in a small, private room over a rather dingy pub in Fulham as they waited for the arrival of Arcturus' contacts. A knock at the door was answered immediately by Arcturus, who greeted the two men with a friendly handshake. Both were in their mid-thirties, well built with relatively plain features that matched in a way that spoke of family.

"Gordon and his younger brother Terrance Higgins, I'd like to introduce to you my grandson, Sirius, his godson and adopted son Harry," each of them stepped forwards to shake hands with the other, "and this is my grandson's life partner, Remus." Neither one of the men batted an eye as Sirius grinned and denied the statement, though Terrance did point out that his name was 'Terry' with a look that said it wasn't the first time he had mentioned this to Arcturus. "Distant cousins." He also added. Harry had long ago given up on trying to remember the different branches of the Black family tree, but remembered Sirius mentioning a great-great-something-or other who had been disowned by the family for marrying a muggle named Higgins.

"Doesn't bother us mate," said Gordon over Sirius' corrections "who you sleep with is your business." He went immediately business like as they took their seats around the rickety table. "Now, Uncle Arcturus here mentioned that you might have some work for me and my team?"

"Your team?" Questioned Harry as Arcturus had remained tight-lipped about who they were meeting today. "Also, uncle?"

"Yeah" said Terry, "he's like the uncle who's not really an uncle but always gets called that as he was around so much when we were kids, minus the diddling your mum and the touching the kids in their no-no place." he added as an after thought, prompting amused snorts from Remus, Sirius and Harry and a moderately successful attempt to hide his smile from the man in question.

"My attempts to re-build this family did not start with you, Sirius, but with Gordon and Terrance's parents. They were kind enough to put me up when things became" he searched for the right word "_unpleasant_ with your mother at Grimmauld Place, and they have been good enough to stay in touch ever since." Sirius nodded in understanding.

"I don't remember seeing you at Hogwarts" he said thoughtfully. Gordon just shrugged.

"Couldn't afford it and our family aren't that strong magically anyway, what we know we picked up along the way or got from Arcturus" he nodded at Lord Black, who gave his best grandfatherly smile in return. "After school, I went straight into the Royal Marines, Terry joined me a year later, but there were a few too many moments where we had to use magic, so we left a couple of years back." He scratched a long scar on his arm, causing the sleeve of his tee-shirt to hitch slightly and reveal the bottom edge of a tattoo. "Now we work in the private sector and have our own group, a mix of muggles, magicals and squibs. Which leads us onto why we're here."

Arcturus nodded and began to explain the situation they found themselves in.

/

Within the first week of the summer holidays, Neville and Hermione found themselves sat across from the rather imposing figure of Lord Arcturus Black dressed in a smart muggle style suit. He was looking perfectly at home in the luxuriously furnished coffee rooms of one of the most exclusive hotels in London, sat next to the large windows that looked out over exquisitely maintained gardens. One hand was resting on the head of a large black dog, idly patting it as he examined the two students across from him, waiting patiently for them to start with their questions.

Hermione had been initially stunned into silence by the casual display of wealth and, just as her inner girl was about to ask if she could pet the gigantic hound while cooing nonsensical things and asking 'who's a good boy', her inner scholar beat her over the head with a book bag and she began her barrage of questions. Much to Neville's chagrin, his excuse of a summer project had actually become a reality and he was looking forward to a summer that would involve far too much time in the library and not enough doing anything that didn't resemble schoolwork in the slightest.

After almost two hours of exhaustive questioning, Hermione had asked all her questions on their summer project and was desperately trying to think of a way to raise the topic of Harry Potter. Neville had been bored after the first ten minutes and had stopped listening after the first fifteen, maintaining a polite look of interest while day dreaming away, a useful skill he had developed during the dinner parties he had been forced to attend by his grandmother.

In the end, Hermione couldn't think of anything and when she was finished with her list of prepared questions stuttered out that she was done and Neville tuned back in just in time to say that he had no questions either.

Hermione found herself reminded of Dumbledore as the old man pushed himself to his feet, shaking both their hands and bid them goodbye with a twinkle in his eye and a "Do not hesitate to get in touch if I can be of any further help."

Neville and Hermione just stared after him as he left the room, the dog padding alongside him. Neville groaned as a look of determination crossed his friend's face and she grabbed his hand, dragging him after the old man.

"What are we doing Hermione?" He asked resignedly, knowing the answer and really not wanting to hear it.

"We're going to follow him" she replied, jaw set and ignoring Neville's reluctance "and then we're going to see if he leads us to Harry."

"He's got a damn Grimm as a guard dog Hermione!" Neville complained to no effect.

They pushed out onto the street and Hermione craned her head around, catching sight of the distinctive figure of Arcturus Black, his hound padding along beside him, in the distance. The rushed after him, staying close enough to follow but far enough away to avoid notice. He turned down a cobbled side street closed to traffic between two old buildings and the two students followed carefully, feeling awfully exposed with no doorways or cars to hide behind. They were ten paces in when Arcturus stopped.

They froze as he turned around with a very serious expression on his face and began making his slow way towards them, dark eyes unreadable and any resemblance to Dumbledore very much gone. The hound stalked towards them by it's master's side and Hermione knew that the lightly panting breath and the lips pulled back to reveal two rows of very sharp looking teeth would be haunting her nightmares. They both checked over their shoulder, checking to see if they were close enough to make a run for it if they had to and found their way cut off by two very serious looking men in dark suits wearing sunglasses. Hermione gulped and felt for Neville's hand. He gave it a reassuring squeeze, despite being just as nervous as she was. In the time it had taken for them to turn around and look back again, Lord Black had been joined by a man and a woman, also wearing dark suits and sunglasses, who took up position on either side of him. Neville's nervousness increased as he noticed the jacket of the man flap open to reveal a muggle pistol holstered at his hip next to the wand.

"I sincerely hope that you are following me because you thought of some more questions that simply could not wait." The statement was quiet and delivered with an authority and power that had cowed political opponents from the far side of the Wizengamot in his younger years.

"Ummm" Neville desperately tried to think of something while Hermione just squeaked nervously.

Arcturus frowned "You have ten seconds before I turn around and go, I would like an acceptable answer as to why you were following me. If I don't have one..." He trailed off and gave a smile that was usually seen on sharks just before they tear apart a seal and held far too many teeth to be friendly.

"Harry Potter!" blurted Neville. The old man's face remained impassive, but the growl that issued from the dog's throat was so obviously hostile that they took a step back, straight into the two security men who steadied them with large, strong hands that made it very clear that they weren't going to be escaping any time soon.

"I don't know anyone by that name." Arcturus replied after the briefest pause and turned to leave. The grim remained glowering at both of them, low growl still rumbling from it's throat.

"We saw you!" countered Hermione desperately and Lord Black hesitated. Hermione and Neville both flinched against the firm grip of the guards holding them as the dog twitched towards them, baring it's teeth and raising the level of growl. Neville now realised that he had been mistaken as to just how intimidating the Grimm's growl was, and reclassified the previous one as 'mildly-scary', with the new one tentatively ear-marked as 'pants-shittingly-terrifying'. Arcturus glanced back over his shoulder "Over Easter at the rugby, Westminster and, and," she struggled to remember the name of the other school "and Smeltings." She continued in a rush, now earning Arcturus' full attention "You were there with Sirius Black and Remus Lupin and some other woman and a boy who was about our age with dark hair and green eyes and could only be Harry Potter and..." her babbling was cut off by the raised hand of the elderly gentleman in front of her.

"And your plan in approaching me was... what? Extortion?" asked Lord Black with a raised eyebrow and a menace in his voice that reminded Hermione that a large number of the Black family practiced dark magic and that just because there was no evidence that the man in front of her had done so, that didn't mean that he couldn't or didn't. She realised that the ridiculously large dog might not be the most dangerous thing in front of her and cursed herself for that thought as her imagination began to run wild with the different fates she and Neville might be subjected to if Lord Black was in the right mind for it.

"No, we just..." she stammered to a halt.

"'We just'... what?" came the soft, dangerous voice. Hermione found her throat so dry that she couldn't answer the question and looked at Neville for assistance. He shrugged helplessly and she admitted in a very small voice.

"We just wanted to see if we were right." Lord Black assessed them carefully for an uncomfortably long moment, his bodyguards showing no emotion at all. The growl from the dog faded to a level that Neville thought of as I-know-this-growl-makes-you-uncomfortable-and-I-could-tear-your-throat-out-without-breaking-a-sweat-but-at-the-moment-you-aren't-worth-the-effort. He'd probably have to think of a new name for it, but for some reason at this particular moment in time, his brain wasn't quite up to the task.

"Have you told anyone else about this?" Both children shook their heads nervously, now beginning to wish that they had. "Good. Don't." He turned to leave for a second time.

"Wait, that's it?!" Asked Neville, shocked at the abrupt end to their confrontation. Arcturus turned back and gave them a withering look.

"Would you like me to threaten you?" He asked sarcastically "Perhaps you would like me to say that if you inform anyone of your discovery I shall flay her" he said pointing at Hermione who went so white Neville thought she was going to faint "and dress you in her skin before making you believe that you were the one to do it and handing you over to the Aurors? Perhaps I should just feed you both to my dog?" He continued, pausing to let the threat sit for a moment. A look of utter horror was pasted on both their faces and they just stared back at him, fear in their eyes. Arcturus rolled his eyes in exasperation. _Who did they think he was? Uncle Cygnus?!_ "Oh for the love of Merlin" he snapped, making them both jump "I appreciate that my family does not have a blemish free history and there are some that would think nothing of doing exactly that, if not worse. I am not them." he let that sink in and saw a small measure of relief on their faces "No, I will just point out that at some point, Harry will be returning to the wizarding world and will no doubt want friends. I would also like to point out that he is a remarkably powerful and skilled young man, as well as having the wealth and power of the Black family behind him" he took a moment to indicate the bodyguards "I assume you would rather be on his, and my, good side on his return?" They both nodded dumbly back at him. "Good. Then keep his secret, tell no one and you wont have to end up wearing her skin and I won't have to spend a stupid amount of time picking the bones out of Snuffles here's food." He gave them a last, small smile that made them very uncertain as to whether he was joking or not, before turning away and heading down the alleyway, security team in tow. The dog just stared at them and they backed slowly away until they came up short against the brick wall of the alleyway.

"Snuffles!" Called Arcturus sternly from the door way of the black Bentley that had pulled up, one of the security men holding the door open.

Hermione gave another small shriek as the dog transformed into Sirius Black, dressed in the same fashion as his grandfather in an exquisitely tailored muggle suit. He loomed over them and they both leaned as far backwards into the wall as they could, away from the hard eyes that assessed them carefully.

"Woof." He said, before turning on his heals and joining Arcturus and the security detail in the car.

As soon as the Black-mobile pulled away, Hermione and Neville slumped against the wall, Hermione holding a hand against her chest and feeling the rapid thumping of her heart that apparently wanted to burst out of her chest and run off down the street.

"Oh my God." Said Hermione quietly.

"I think I just peed a little." Mumbled Neville.

Gryffindor courage will only take you so far after all.

/

After the confrontation with Neville and Hermione, Harry, Sirius, Remus and Arcturus spent a very enjoyable summer and continued thrashing each other around the training area. Occasionally they would even be joined by Fiona Watkins, who found it marginally less awkward being around Harry in a social environment as he would have a different tutor for his second year, though she still occasionally struggled with the concept of the magical world and regularly struggled with the continuous pranking that went on in the household.

One of the additional factors that came from the confrontation were the classes, primarily for Harry but in reality for all of them, on tactics and weapons handling from the Higgins brothers. They had also shown the family a rather ingenious invention of their own: a charm of their own devising that could be attached to an item of jewellery or article of clothing that allowed non-magical people to see things that were normally not visible, such as Hogwarts, or the spells with a visible beam.

Despite an incredibly busy summer, Harry still found time to regularly see his friends and especially Victoria, something that pleased the older Blacks and Remus who had grown fond of the cheerful blonde, and were pleased to see how happy the two were together. Remus and Fiona, after the later's exposure to magic and eventually learning the reason behind her boyfriend's disappearance once a month, were also becoming increasingly serious and Harry often awoke in the morning to find that his form tutor had spent the night and would quietly (or loudly, if he wished to embarrass the werewolf or his tutor) thank various deities for the invention of silencing charms.

/

The man at the front of the room introduced himself as "Adam Groves, your new form tutor" and Harry was instantly unimpressed. Having had a fantastic year with Miss Watkins, where she had protected them as much as possible from the ramifications of any of their pranks, the new one finished his introduction by saying "and I assure you, that the lee-way that Miss Watkins may have shown you will not be and tom-foolery" Isaac just mouthed _tom-foolery?_ To Harry who shook his head in amusement "will not be tolerated – you are here to learn." And sent them off to their first lesson.

"So my friends" Said Pyotr, throwing an arm around each of their shoulders "what is first plan for new idiot tutor?" While his English had improved significantly, he still struggled with some parts. Surprisingly, not least to Harry and Isaac, the other boys had picked up Russian and French almost as quickly as he had learned their language.

"Plan?" Asked Harry in Russian, trying to convey innocence as much as possible "What makes you think we have a plan."

"Because you always have plan." Said Jaques, joining the conversation in stilted Russian. Harry and Isaac grinned back at him while the twins nodded their agreement.

"D'accord" conceded Isaac, switching to French "but what makes you think we have more than one plan?"

"Because you always have more than one plan" pointed out Andrew Preston.

"Yep" agreed his brother, switching back to English "and it's then our job to talk you into doing the one that's least likely to end up with all of us getting expelled."

Harry and Isaac gave each other a nod and Isaac began with

"So you know how our new form tutor loves his pet carp..."

Fiona Watkins watched her old form disappear down the corridor with just a tinge of sadness. She would never admit it to them, but she had enjoyed their pranks almost as much as they had, especially as she occasionally got to hear about how some of them might "hypothetically" have been carried out when she visited Remus. It also made her rather proud how they stuck up for each other – they very rarely got caught, even though almost all the teachers knew to a fairly high degree of certainty who the culprits were. When they did get caught, all of them claimed that it had been their idea and that they should take the full blame, including, on one memorable occasion, Jaques insisting that he had been responsible for setting the fire-alarms off when he had been at home in France. With a sigh, she turned back to her class room and took advantage of the free period to go over her lesson plans.

/

Hogwarts

With another wave of new students safely tucked into their beds, Minerva McGonagall joined Albus Dumbledore in his study for their traditional fire-whiskey. With the Sorting Hat mumbling quietly in the corner about the latest intake, describing them as "A waste of semen that should have dribbled down their mother's legs", she lowered herself into a chair and gratefully plucked the glass from the air as it floated across the room towards her.

"Well," she said settling comfortably into the chair "another year started Albus. Always makes things seem hopeful, doesn't it." She mused quietly. The headmaster just hmmd noncommittally, and continued to study the battered old book in front of him from a distance of about five centimeters, hands on the table and chin resting on his hands. "What is it?" He looked up with tired eyes. "Another one?" She guessed – Dumbledore nodded and sighed, leaning back in his chair and taking a sip from his glass.

"This one was detected by the new wards and brought straight to my desk."

"What is it?" She asked again, with morbid curiosity and wondering what horror the defeated Dark Lord had nearly unleashed this time around.

"A diary" explained Dumbledore sadly, "containing a fragment of Voldemort's soul, charmed so that the more one wrote in it, the greater control the soul-fragment inside would have over the individual. Eventually, the fragment would have complete control and the original soul would be displaced and die."

"Who was it?" she queried, feeling the aforementioned hope begin to fade away and be replaced by a pit of dread deep in her stomach.

"Ginevra Weasley" he gave a tired smile at her gasp of horror "don't worry, it had only been in her possession a short while and she hadn't been too badly affected by it, though you may wish to have a word with her about trusting enchanted objects whose origins you are unfamiliar with." Minerva nodded seriously before stopping to review her memories of the evening. The Weasley girl had left from dinner with the rest of the first years and gone straight to the tower while McGonagall had come straight here to meet Albus.

"Wait, when did you manage to take whatever was in her head out? There hasn't been time." At this, the headmaster gave a small smile and the twinkle returned to his eyes.

"Oh it wasn't me" said the old wizard and nodded towards the Sorting Hat "the Hat was able to remove the influence and contain it long enough to regurgitate it back into the diary after the feast. Though it must have had some effect as now the diary just displays profanities and insults." Minerva cast a shocked look at the still grumbling Hat.

"Don't look at me like that you old crone" snapped the Hat "if anyone's going to skull-fuck the little shits that run around this school, it's going to be me. Besides, you really think I'd let a senile old fart like him try for the extraction? He'd probably go hunting for shower scenes the old pervert." Dumbledore just rolled his eyes at the insults. "What's more, I didn't do a damn thing to the diary, Tommy boy is just pissed because he couldn't make me one of his little soul sacks as well. Little shit wouldn't have known what had hit him if he'd tried anyway." it finished with a mumble.

/

Last week of Christmas term.

"Sirius, when they ask, I need you to say that me, Isaac and Jaques were here all last night doing our English assignment." Harry kept his best innocent face on.

"Why?" asked Sirius suspiciously "Where were you?"

"Here" said Harry earnestly "we were doing our English assignment all night."

"That's what I thought, who thinks you were somewhere else?" Remus and Fiona just grinned at the exchange from the dinning room table where they were setting up for dinner and enjoying the free show.

"Well apparently, and this is pure hear-say of course" began Harry

"Oh of course." Agreed Sirius, trying to hide the amusement at the story of another one of Harry's pranks and motioned for him to continue.

"Apparently, some daring, brave, no doubt amazingly good looking, students broke into my form tutors house last night and stole his prize winning carp." Sirius cast a confused look at Remus.

"It's a type of fish." He clarified.

"Fish can win prizes?" Sirius asked, still confused "In what? Being a fish?"

"Apparently so, don't interrupt." Confirmed Harry.

"Sorry" Apologised Sirius, interrupting again.

"Well they stole these fish and when he arrived in work this morning, there was a video playing of the fish in the plastic bags they give them out at the fair on the school computers. Then, these truly awesome pranksters left him a series of clues to try and find them again." He finished with a grin.

"Wait, which computer did they put it on? And how did they know which one your tutor would go to?"

"They didn't" came Fiona's input, wry amusement in her voice "it was on all of them." By this point everyone was grinning at the mis-fortune of Mr Groves, who had not made a good impression on any of them and who held a particular dislike for Harry because Fiona had turned down his own advances a few short weeks before she started dating Remus. Somehow this was Harry's fault.

"Where were the fish in the end?" asked Remus.

"Well you'd never guess what" said Harry as Fiona started giggling so much that she had to sit down "but the circus that's set up down the road just so happened to have some fish that looked remarkably similar to Mr Groves' on the stand where you win them by catching plastic ducks." He grinned at them all and then looked more closely at Sirius "Are you crying?" his godfather just nodded wordlessly, tears still streaming down his face as he pulled Harry into a hug.

"So proud" he whispered as everyone else descended into laughter "so, so proud."

"You are such a pussy" Came Harry's muffled response even as he returned the hug.

/

Valentine's Day, London.

Arcturus had really out done himself. Harry had gone to him for advice for where to take his girlfriend for Valentine's Day and Arcturus had just grinned and told him not to worry. Harry had worried, completely unnecessarily it turned out, as he was now sat with Victoria in a secluded booth in one of the more exclusive London restaurants. The greeter had looked like he had wanted to kick them out for even thinking that they would be able to eat here until Harry had given his name, and at that point nothing was too much to ask for.

"Oh Harry, it's beautiful!" Victoria's eyes were wide and teary as she looked at her gift. Harry flushed at the praise and got up to attach the locket around her neck. She stood too and wrapped her arms around him, giving him a long, soft kiss by way of thanks. "You are definitely spoiling me, Mr Black."

Harry smiled across at her "You are most certainly worth it, Miss Hastings." She smiled back at him and gave a little laugh as she wiped a small tear from her eye.

"Well keep it up then." She joked.

"Oh it get's better" he said, a small smile on his face as he leant across the table towards her. She leaned across as well until their faces were barely six inches apart.

"Do tell" she whispered conspiratorially, eyes sparkling a little from the moisture and a lot from her amusement.

"Well" he continued in a low voice, reaching across to hold the locket so they could both see it "not only have I put a photo in it already" she gasped as he popped the locket open revealing her favourite photo of the two of them, taken during the Christmas holidays just gone when Sirius had caught them curled up asleep on the sofa cuddled together and he gently wiped a tear of happiness from her check "but it's also magic" she choked out a small laugh and he smiled at her, eyes twinkling "I'm serious" he protested playfully "I cast the spells myself – all you have to do is hold that locket and think of me and I'll be able to see you and I'll know that that you're thinking of me and you're ok." Victoria just leant across the table and kissed him to shut him up.

/

Easter Holidays

After much consideration and a flat out refusal from Neville to do anything that might antagonise anyone with the surname of Black for at least the first term of their second year, Hermione Granger had finally managed to convince her friend to come to another rugby match between Westminster and Smeltings. She had come along in the hope of being able to catch a glimpse of Harry and maybe even meet him, while he had been sold on the fact that this was likely to be a vicious game between the two sides.

He was not disappointed.

Though several early tries had put Westminster in the lead, Smeltings defence had managed to stop them from gaining any further advantage and their attacks had managed to claw back some points and even up the scores. Hermione watched half-heartedly as the Westminster side prepared for another scrum and thanked god that she wasn't sat anywhere near Fat-Man and Horse-Face this time round. As the ball was popped to Harry's waiting hands, she saw him dart to one side and then to the other, desperately seeking a space to get through. When none was evident, he let fly with an outstanding drop kick that went far down behind the Smeltings line before being caught by one of the defending players who rushed back with it cradled against his chest before being stopped by the Westminster side.

It continued like this for several minutes before one of the Westminster players was able to break through the line, two of his team mates including Harry running behind him and out to the side as they approached Smeltings' line of five. The first player went down from a hefty tackle just after he popped the ball to his team mate who passed almost immediately to Harry before being hit by two of the Smeltings players at once. Harry approached the opposing fly-half and seemed to run straight through him, slowing but continuing to run as the other player held on and tried to drag him down. The Westminster crowd went wild as another player jumped on Harry and failed to bring him down and even Hermione found herself on her feet and cheering him on as the awkward huddle of three continued at a pace a little below a jog before a player Hermione recognised as 'Big-D' the son of the Fat-Man, slammed into them and took them all to the ground very close to the try-line. She wasn't too sure as her view was shortly obscured, but she could have sworn that she saw Fat-Boy's arm raising and lowering as if he were punching the other player.

Down on the pitch, Harry was in pain. He had pushed as far as he could but had lost track of how far he had gone when he had finally been taken down and had only noticed that someone was punching him. He didn't have to see to have a pretty decent idea who the culprit was. Ever since that first game the Dursley clown on the Smeltings team had seemed to think that there was some sort of feud between them and had made a point of trying to foul him and generally cause him as much grief as possible. He felt his shoulder dislocate as it twisted badly and had too much weight put on it and an iron bar across his throat. He gurgled against it and failed miserably to move it. Harry was just on the border of blacking out when the weight was removed and he found himself able to focus on the face of his coach. He heard shouting in the back ground as members of his team squared off angrily against their opponents while the referee announced the try in Westminster's favour, shortly before showing a yellow card to Dursley and then blowing his whistle for half time.

_Should have been a red_. Thought Harry to himself as he made his way over to the sidelines. Sirius, and Remus were waiting with Victoria, a mixture of anger at the other players and concern for Harry warring on their faces. In the end, it was anger on Sirius, who muttered dark things about what he would like to do to the person who had inflicted this on Harry.

"Oh sweetheart, what has he done to you?" asked Victoria, taking his hand and running her other gently across a scratch to his cheek that he had barely noticed receiving. His smile came out as more of a grimace.

"I'm ok Vic," he said, and caught their disbelieving stares "it looks worse than it is?" he tried with a pained smile. Victoria rolled her eyes and stood on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek. She smiled back up at him and lightly touched his shoulder causing him to wince and she immediately withdrew her hand, concern back on her face "Ok, maybe it is as bad as it looks." He admitted.

"Sit." She ordered, pointing to the bench with a large number of injured Westminster players who wouldn't be playing any more today on it already. Too sore to protest, Harry sat. "I'm going to go get the doc" she announced "you two" she pointed at Sirius and Remus sternly "don't let him go anywhere."

Sirius gave her a mocking salute and a "Yes ma'am" before putting his game face back on and assessing the damage to his god son.

"Fix it" whispered Harry to Remus. The older man had both hands on Harry's shoulder assessing the damage.

"Just take the rest of the game off, Harry. It's going to be sore even if I re-locate it and a numbing charm is just going to hide the damage."

"No!" insisted the younger man "I want to finish playing and that fat-fuck isn't going to stop me just because I've got a dislocated shoulder."

"Can you play?" Called coach Barrett, making his way over with Victoria and the doctor.

"Yep!" Shouted back Harry before Remus could respond "Do it!" He hissed angrily as Sirius moved to obstruct the view of those approaching. Harry stifled a yell by biting into his shirt collar as Remus re-set his shoulder and cast a quick, wandless numbing charm as he pretended to massage it.

"Let's have a look at you then." Said the doctor, waving Remus to take a step back. He ran his hands over the shoulder and pronounced no dislocation. After having Harry prove that he still had a full range of movement in the arm, he examined his other minor cuts and scrapes before announcing him fit to carry on playing, but advised him to take it easy for the rest of the weekend and that his shoulder would likely be stiff for some time.

"Was it Fatty McFat-Twat?" Asked Victoria when the coach and doctor had left, using the nickname that Sirius had invented for Dursley after his and Harry's second run-in. She had thought it most appropriate as well, especially after the boy in question had tried to chat her up when she'd come to watch Harry play for the first time. Harry grinned at her and nodded, pulling her into a one armed hug. She squealed in mock protest "You're all muddy! Stop it, this jacket's... ah crap, now it's covered in mud too." She pouted and stuck her tongue out but accepted a chaste kiss from Harry. "Just do me a favour and avoid getting hurt any more today?"

"Your wish is my command, m'lady" He replied with a cheeky smile. She gave him a stern nod and a smile.

"And don't you forget it." Before heading back to the stands with Sirius and Remus.

"Hey Remus!" Called Harry at their retreating backs "Thanks!" He waved at his previously injured arm and the man just nodded and smiled.

"You can owe me one!" Harry laughed and went to take up his position for the next half. He had a plan, all it needed was the right opportunity, a whole lot of skill and a bit of luck.

It came five minutes before the final whistle, with Westminster five points ahead and several players on both sides incapacitated through injury or sin-bin and a threat from the referee to call the game if there was any more foul play. _This might push it_ thought Harry as he got the ball from a scrum, turning to see Dursley running full speed in his direction with no one in between. He kept his grin inside as he released the ball for a drop kick. The connection was perfect and had all Harry's weight and anger from the petty actions of the previous games behind it. If Dursley wanted to play the game this way, Harry could be petty too. He just did it better. The ball flew true, slamming hard enough into Dursley's face to knock him completely from his feet and leave him dazed.

There was a loud "Ooooooh!" from the crowd. Even though none of the Westminster and very few of the Smeltings crowd actually liked him, it still looked like it hurt.

The ball remained in play for a very brief moment, collected by one of Harry's team-mates and advanced by ten yards before the referee called a time out to allow the removal of a still severely dazed Dudley Dursley from the pitch. The match ended with no further points scored and despite the closeness of it, Harry left with a grin and couldn't have been happier if he'd scored every one of the tries himself. It didn't hurt that most of his team-mates were congratulating him for his fantastic drop kick and it probably had a small part to play in Coach Barrett announcing him as the man-of-the-match.

/

Summer term talent show, Westminster School.

Harry peaked out from behind the curtain, assessing the crowd.

"How many people are out there?" Asked Isaac nervously. Harry shrugged and lied through his teeth.

"Hardly any," He said with a straight face "the hall's mostly empty."

"You're a lying sack of bastard Harry Black, you do know that, don't you?" accused his friend. Harry just nodded and grinned back at him. "I hate you."

"Don't sweat it, it's just another prank." In the nearly two years that they had been friends, Harry had never seen Isaac this nervous. Not when they were creeping around the school at night, breaking into the staff room to change the signature blocks of their teacher's email addresses, or filling Miss Watkins' room with balloons for her birthday, just today.

"It's not just another prank!" Hissed Isaac angrily, "My parent's are out there, and they aren't like Sirius – they're going to go fucking spare!" They got a sharp look from the supervising teachers assistant who was organising the acts. Harry smiled apologetically at the young man before turning to conduct damage control "Oh god, this is all going to go so wrong, I'm going to be grounded forever and it's all your fault." He pointed accusingly at Harry, who was now feeling a little offended.

"Right," said Harry, grabbing his friend and pulling him out of the way he raised one finger "one, we've practiced the shit out of this and we're awesome" Isaac straightened a little and Harry raised a second finger "two, at most they'll ground you till you're eighteen and then you're legally an adult and can leave home" Isaac nodded and accepted this as truth. Harry raised a third finger "three, this was your fucking idea, not mine, so don't pussy out on me now, y'hear?"

Isaac shook of Harry's hand and pompously brushed the crease from his tuxedo "One," he began, raising his middle finger at Harry and they both began to grin "you're right, we _are_ awesome and it's going to be fine. Two" he raised his index finger to continue swearing at his friend, their smiles broadening "fuck them. Three" and his eyes took on a rather evil gleam "I'm blaming you when it all goes tits up anyway." At this Harry's grin faltered, replaced by a look of consternation.

"Dude!" He protested "Not cool, what about The Code? Rule Two? One in all in?" Isaac sighed dramatically.

"Fine, but make sure you claim credit in front of my parents."

"Well that went without saying." Grins back on their faces, they shook hands on the agreement.

"Black, Hornbeam, you're up." The teaching assistant interrupted "Good luck" he whispered and both boys grinned back at him as they gave each other a quick, last-minute once over, straightening already straight bow ties.

"You're going to want to watch this." Said Isaac Hornbeam to him with a wink as he walked on stage.

Geoff Chen watched as the two boys head out carrying their instruments. He was actually quite curious to see what they had to offer. He had heard several amusing anecdotes in the staff room about these two boys who were apparently the ring-leaders of pranksters who had run amok in the school for the last two years. It had gotten to the point now that there was a betting pool running on when the prank would take place this evening with each teacher paying thirty pounds for a ten minute time slot. Geoff checked his watch and groaned – his ten minutes had just started and unless they did something during their own set, or the rest of the gang carried out the prank, he would have wasted a large amount of his beer money for the week.

Isaac took a deep, nervous breath, looking out across the hall. He spotted his parents sat near to the Black contingent and prayed that they wouldn't be too pissed off after this one. Had Harry been a bad influence on Isaac? Possibly, but no more so than Isaac was on Harry, and it was more a case that they had sped each other's journey down a road they were already travelling. Harry gave his family a quick nod and Victoria a small smile. He glanced at his co-conspirator and nodded as they took their seats, cellos cradled between their legs, bows held in one hand, fingers of the other splayed on the neck of their instruments. Towards the back of the hall, a handful of twenty pound notes were exchanged hands and a new person took control of the lighting.

In the audience, Victoria, Fiona, Sirius, Remus, and Arcturus were eagerly anticipating Harry and Isaac's piece. In the past two years, Harry had impressed them all with his musical ability, leaving them all incredibly grateful that he actually had some. His music teacher, a nervous but friendly man in his mid-forties named Terry Hathaway, had been incredibly enthusiastic at his progression over the past year and a bit as well, heaping on praise to Harry when Sirius and Remus had met him at the parent teacher evenings.

The polite applause faded with the lights, leaving silence and a dark auditorium, the two musicians highlighted by spotlights. Sirius had wondered slightly when Harry began playing the cello, it really didn't fit with the image he had subconsciously applied to his godson as a mini-James but he couldn't deny Harry's growing skill and smiled as they began to play a piece of classical music. He glanced to his left past Arcturus, seeing Isaac's parents sitting further down the row, proudly watching their son. To his right were Victoria and Fiona, with Remus at the end. He vaguely recognised the piece of classical music they had practiced religiously over the last few weeks.

He saw them grin at each other and give another small nod. _What do you have planned? _wondered the Marauder. The speed of their playing increased, fingers flying across the strings, bows dancing faster and still faster, a look of concentration replacing the mischievous smiles. Faster and faster they played. Confusion spread throughout the audience and a shocked look went across Mr Hathaway's face, his jaw dropping as his two prodigies went off script. _What is that?_ Sirius was sure he recognised the tune.

Harry slapped the bow against the strings, getting a _thump thump_ bass beat even as Isaac continued playing. The lights flared across the room in time with the music, before fading back to darkness and the spotlights. A grin split Sirius face and he noticed several of the students in the audience from Harry's form smiling and nodding as the _thump thump_ was repeated with the accompanying light flare, and he recognised the tune. Shock tinged with horror was writ large across the conservative Hornbeam's faces at the actions of their darling boy. Sirius couldn't have been happier in that moment if he'd had a dozen veela come in and give him a private lap-dance. He brushed a small tear of mixed amusement and pride from his eye as Remus turned to him.

"Is that..." whispered his friend.

"It is." Confirmed Sirius.

"What?" Whispered Arcturus and Fiona Watkins at the same time as the two Marauders watched in awe as their godson and his friend played frantically, Isaac standing up to put more effort into his playing, the lights now becoming disco-like as they alternated colour and flashed around the room in a pattern that had definitely not been planned by the school's Theatre Master. Harry joined him on his feet, taking advantage of a pause in the music to tear the clip-bow tie from his neck. Both boys playing as if they had been possessed, the loose horse hairs from their bows began to whip around as it couldn't keep up with their pace, the younger members of the audience and some of the older ones nodding to the beat and grinning at the boys antics.

"_Thunderstruck_ by ACDC" whispered Sirius in reply, not taking his eyes from the stage. Fiona paused before shaking her head, trying and failing to disapprove of her two former form members even as Arcturus frowned and nodded.

"I thought I recognised it." He continued to bob his head to the beat. While he found that these days he preferred a good piece of Bach, he couldn't deny the skill that the two boys were demonstrating and he was only a fraction of a second behind Sirius in leaping to his feet in a standing ovation as they completed their set.

The boys stood and bowed, before making their way off stage, where they were met by a remarkably cheerful Geoff Chen, who shook them both by the hand.

"What's with him?" asked Harry under his breath. Isaac just shrugged,

"He's a teacher, they're all a bit odd." Harry grinned as he packed away the cello and conceded his friends' point. "You think the guys got out ok?"

"Have they ever failed us before?" countered Isaac.

"Fair one." He shut the lid of the case with a snap and propped it against the wall to collect later. "Right" he turned to his friend, looking at him seriously "are you ready to face the music?" Isaac took a deep breath, steeling himself for his inevitable dressing down from his parents and nodded just as Geoff Chen finished announcing that there would be a short break before the next act.

"Let's go."

Five minutes later, Harry was stood next to Isaac feeling remarkably similar to the previous times the had been stood before a teacher together while someone tried to establish how they would prove that they were the culprit's for the latest prank. Mrs Hornbeam was incredibly irate, while her husband seemed to be trying to hide a smile.

"Just what is wrong with Mozart?" Asked Rebecca Hornbeam of her son.

"Nothing mum, it's just..." Isaac trailed off.

"Well?" she demanded.

"If I may Mrs Hornbeam" tried Harry. There was a time and a place for calling her Rebecca, as she had asked him to before when he had been staying with them. Here was not the place and now was most definitely not the time as Harry was fairly sure she was about to burst a blood vessel. She cut him off with a glare. Harry was eternally grateful that they had found his family at the same time and they had heaped praise on both boys before Isaac's mother had started in. She might not let him step in, but she wouldn't have a go at him in front of his family and he'd just have to endure a few visits with the silent treatment at the Hornbeam Residence.

"Pardonnez-moi Madame Hornbeam" interrupted Jaques Morin, over egging his French accent and preparing to ruin the good reputation he currently had with Isaac's mother "but it was my idea for them to play the AC/DC..."

He was cut off by an irate Russian "Nyet! The idea was mine!"

"You're both liars! It was our idea!" The Preston twins cried in unison.

"Enough!" Cried Mrs Hornbeam, cutting off the rest of their form as they tried to take credit. She turned to Lord Black, surely he would support her in this "Lord Black" she began, trying for a measure of control in her voice "surely you must have something to say in this?" Harry looked at Arcturus, who had been much quieter than usual and suddenly felt a little nervous.

"Indeed I do." The aristocrat began softly, Rebecca Hornbeam folded her arms in triumph as the boys began to feel a little nervous at the stern gaze he was levelling at their friend. Harry shifted awkwardly but met his great-grandfather's gaze "a clip on bow-tie Harry?" Lord Black asked, disappointment clear in his voice "I honestly thought better of you." The audience just watched in stunned silence. Harry stood up straight and kept his face as immobile as possible, an astonishing feat considering the shock on Mrs Hornbeam's face was hilarious.

"You're right, grandfather" Harry apologised respectfully, bowing his head slightly "I have let you down. It wont happen again."

"Hmmph. See that it doesn't." Arcturus responded "Clip on tie indeed." he scoffed, shaking his head in disgust and turning to smile benignly at Mrs Hornbeam, who huffed and grabbed Isaac's hand and dragging him off to the car, leaving her husband to collect Isaac's cello. Jacob Hornbeam waited until his wife was out of earshot before giving Harry and the rest of the group a smile.

"Great playing up there Harry" his comment left the boys stunned and his smile became a little wistful "one of my favourite songs that." Harry recovered his voice first.

"Yes sir" he said cautiously "I definitely remember you saying that at some point within my earshot." The rest of the form group nodded enthusiastically voicing similar observations. Jacob just smiled as he picked up his son's cello case.

"I'll try to make sure he's not grounded for the entire summer." He promised before bidding the adults a good evening and following his wife and son, humming the tune under his breath.

/

On Monday the following week, in a small safe house that had been provided by a sympathiser to the cause... well, someone who they had been able to blackmail into helping them as they began to re-build their fallen master's empire, Bellatrix Lestrange was watching with disgust as Peter Pettigrew used his dirty fingers to stuff handfuls of fish and chips into his mouth. Disgusting. She took another drag of her cigarette before stubbing it out angrily against the table.

"You really are nothing more than a worm aren't you?" She stated with heartfelt loathing as she watched flakes of fish drop from his mouth as he chewed with his mouth open. He just grinned spitefully back at her and continued eating, staring down at the newspaper his meal had arrived in. She swore to herself that the moment her master returned and declared Peter superfluous to their cause, she would take great pleasure in his death. He began to choke. Maybe it would come sooner than expected. "Oh please tell me you're choking to death." She said eagerly "Gasp pathetically and grab at your throat if you want some help." Pettigrew continued to cough, one hand slamming into his chest in an attempt to dislodge the offending morsel, the other extended a dirty finger and stabbed repeatedly at an article in the grease smeared paper.

Sighing, Bellatrix pulled the paper towards her, spilling chips as she did so and ignoring the continued hacking from her partner in crime who jumped up and staggered to the sink to vomit noisily. She froze as she stared at the photograph of the two boys that looked so similar she thought they were brothers before noting the names below. Both of them looked like a man who had been dead for over ten years, but there was only so much coincidence that one could allow for. One of the names jumped out immediately at her and she curled her lip in disgust. Aunt Walburga would be spinning in her grave if she knew that a Potter spawn was swanning around under the noble name of Black. She was still staring at it when Peter returned, slumping into his chair and glaring across at her.

"Do you think..."

"I could have just died." He whined, a healthy dose of accusation in his statement. She waved him off.

"I'll keep my fingers crossed for next time." She replied flippantly before shoving the paper back towards him. "Is. This. Him?" She asked, literally vibrating with anticipation at what the photo could mean. Peter looked up at her and grinned and nodded. Despite herself, Bellatrix couldn't help but respond in kind – they'd found Harry-fucking-Potter!

_A/N - Well, another long chapter and smashed out in just under 24 hours, I hope you enjoyed it! For anyone who is interested, the inspiration for the cello scene came from 2Cellos, who have a fantastic video of this song and many others that I haven't done justice but are certainly worth checking out._

_To those of you wondering when Harry's going to meet the Hogwarts crew, the answer is fairly soon. I was going to try and have Hermione and Neville meet with him after the Rugby match, but it didn't quite tie in so it got left out. Maybe one day I'll come back and insert the bits of this chapter that I didn't have the time or inclination to write this time around, but in the meantime, if anyone has any thoughts about what they would like to see included (I tried to think of a few signature blocks and other ways Fiona might have found out and then 'forgotten' about magic but didn't get anywhere that warranted including here) please get in touch._

__Thank you all again for the reviews, please keep them coming. They make the writing worthwhile and they have inspired a few moments as well.__


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Just a very quick thank you for the kind words so far, please keep them coming!_

Ch 7

Last day of term, Westminster School.

Harry stared blankly at the wall in front of him, tears still flowing down his cheeks. Sirius and Remus were talking to the Aurors and the Ministry Obliviator but Harry couldn't hear what they were saying. He wasn't sure if it was because of a silencing charm or because his ears were still ringing and he didn't particularly care. The worst part was that his friends were huddled in the corner, staying away from him and looking at him like he was some sort of freak. Pyotr had flinched when he tried to make sure he was ok. The twins were unreadable. Jaques seemed to have gone into shock and was staring blankly at the wall. Isaac...

Harry sighed, rubbing his face with both hands. And the day had started out so well.

/

Isaac, the twins, Pyotr and Jaques met Harry at the school gates with the rest of their form group.

"All set?" asked Harry. Pyotr nodded and gave the small smile that was the Russian's equivalent of a broad grin.

"Da." He patted the small computer his father had sent him the previous Christmas.

"Come on," said Simon Preston impatiently "we'll be late for The Fish." His use of the nickname they had given their form tutor made them smile every time, and they made their way to their form room.

Fifteen minutes after the first bell sounded, giving the form tutors enough time to take the final register of the term, the PA system crackled into life as the Headmaster prepared to give his end of term address. Adam Groves looked at the PA system suspiciously. He knew at some point his form would be pranking the whole student body – not that he would be able to prove it. As the Headmaster finished with a "I wish you all a very relaxing summer holidays and look forward to seeing you in the Autumn for a new term." Mr Grove looked across at the boys in front of him.

_They actually look as innocent as they like people to think,_ he thought bitterly to himself _if I didn't know better..._

"Now boys" he began pompously "This is Mr Adams, he is going to be your form tutor next year. I recommend that you use this opportunity to make a good impression on him before you head on your summer holidays. Steve," he said turning to address the new tutor "they're all yours." _Good luck with the little bastards_ he thought as he left the class room.

"Bye sir!" They called cheerfully. He glared back at them as they waved him off, overly cheerful before turning to assess their new tutor. Stephen Adams assessed the boys in front of him, keeping his face carefully neutral as his predecessor left, making sure to meet all their eyes. When the door closed and he was sure that Mr Grove wasn't listening behind the door, he grinned at them and felt a small amount of the tension leave the room.

"Well gentlemen" he began "I'll admit that I have heard stories about you all..."

"You mean we're famous sir?" Interrupted Michael McAllister with a cheeky grin

"I'd say 'notorious' was more accurate" he got a small laugh from the students _good start_ he thought "and I'm sure that you have asked around about me as well as soon as you discovered that I was your form tutor" they nodded, smiling, having done a lot more research than he gave them credit for and been impressed by what they found. "This is our chance to get to know each other..."

He went on to briefly outline his career in the army before he had left to become a teacher and listened attentively as each of the boys gave them a brief history of themselves and told them what they hoped to achieve from the year ahead. He built on his favourable first impression by asking both Jaques and Pyotr questions in their native language, though his accent was heavy and he wasn't as skilled at the languages as any of his students.

As their introductions drew to a close, he figured he'd go out on a limb and see just how much of a good impression he had made.

"Now, I realise that we've just me, but I have one small favour to ask..."

"You have but to name it, sir" said the grinning Phil Robinson magnanimously, rocking back on to two chair legs "if it is within our power..." Mr Adams rolled his eyes.

"I drew eleven to eleven fifteen in the sweepstake for whatever prank you guys have planned..." At this, everyone grinned evilly.

"I don't think we know what you're talking about sir, we're good boys we are." Claimed Harry to further amusement.

"Of course you are" responded Mr Adams dryly "and I'm the Queen of England."

"If you're the Queen, then why do you teach in a boys school sir?" Asked Jaques with a mock serious look on his face before wagging his finger at the man in front of him "I think you are telling porky-pies."

"What's the pot at now sir?" Asked Isaac, and everyone became suddenly serious. Mr Adams was surprised at the change in their manner when money was mentioned and raised an eyebrow.

"One thousand pounds." He was not normally a gambling man, but he and his wife were expecting their first child and Miss Watkins had given him a few veiled hints as to how to approach the pranksters. Serious looks were passed around the class room followed by some rapid conversation in a mix of several languages that the boys had begun using during their first year to make it harder for anyone who was eavesdropping on them. He had been impressed when he had first heard of it and was even more impressed when he heard it for the first time and realised that they had included Latin and fragments of any other language that they picked up. When the conversation was over, James Northall, the mathematical prodigy of the group and the one who seemed to be the master-mind for any of the money making ventures the boys set out on, turned to him.

"Hypothetically" he began, very cautiously "we _might_ know some incredibly smart, daring, dashing and all around great guys who just happen to be in the pranking business." Stephen Adams raised his eyebrows in surprise. This was as close to a confession from the boys that anyone had ever gotten when they weren't trying to take the blame for one of their other team-mates. "If we did know these good looking, intelligent and brave young men, and if we were able to convince them to carry out whatever ingenious and undoubtedly amusing prank that they have planned..." he hesitated and Stephen Adams motioned for him to continue. The student grinned suddenly "What would their cut be?"

Before Mr Adams could answer, the door to the classroom opened and two figures entered wearing police uniforms. The whole class looked at them in surprise.

"Can I help you officers?" Asked Mr Adams.

_Oh fuck my tall hat!_ thought Harry, frantically stabbing the buttons on his watch that would send out a panic signal to Sirius, Remus and Arcturus. _Fucking Bellatrix and Wormtail!_

"We're looking for Harry Potter." Snapped the dark-eyed woman. Mr Adams, a little taken aback at first was caught between his deeply ingrained respect for authority figures and his irritation for them barging in in such a rude manner.

"I'm sorry ma'am," he said as courteously as he could manage "but there isn't anyone by that name in this class. Have you tried asking at reception?" The woman glared at him and he felt incredibly uncomfortable under her gaze.

"He's going by the name of Harry Black and he's wanted for questioning." There was a brief moment when everything stopped and everyone studiously avoided looking at Harry. Then Isaac stood up.

"I'm Harry Potter!" Harry just looked at his friend in confusion. There was a pause as everyone looked at him and Bellatrix made to move towards him.

"Nyet, I'm Harry Potter." From Pyotr and he stood as well.

"I'm Harry Potter!" Chimed in James Northall jumping to his feet

"I'm Harry Potter." Said Harry, pushing himself up to stand next to his friends.

"No you're not!" Cried Simon Preston, standing and dragging his brother up with him.

"I'm Harry Potter and so's my brother!" Added Andrew Preston.

"Enough!" Shouted Bellatrix over the commotion, her fury so obviously apparent that the boys were cowed into silence. Mr Adams felt that he needed to conduct damage control as much as possible.

"I'm sorry officers, it's the last day of school and everyone's a little excitable" he said with an apologetic smile. Bellatrix was still quivering with tension as Peter's ratty eyes flicked across the room, trying to identify exactly who their target was. Mr Adams turned to his form and gave them a stern look "Now boys, these are police officers and we should always try to help the police. Harry..."

Harry hadn't taken his gaze from Bellatrix the entire time. Though Peter and Bellatrix were both strong duellers, she was the least stable and most likely to start casting indiscriminate curses around the students.

"They aren't police officers" said Harry softly. _Where the fuck are Sirius and Remus?!_ Bellatrix Lestrange just smiled dangerously while Peter began twitching nervously "That" continued Harry pointing to Bellatrix "is my god-father's psychotic cousin, and that" he pointed at Peter "is the rat bastard who betrayed my parents to his pathetic master." Bellatrix snarled at the insult and her wand was in her hand in a flash, a fraction of a second ahead of Harry. Mr Adams, much like Harry's previous tutors had been informed of the cult that had sprung up in the late 1970s, petering out in the early eighties after the death of the leader who had died during an attempt to take Harry as a child sacrifice from his parents, two brave undercover officers, and he refused to stand by while these two took his new student from under his nose.

It was difficult to tell who was more surprised, Bellatrix, Peter, or his students, when Mr Adams' grabbed Bellatrix and Peter in a bear hug and charged them across the room and away from the door.

"Run, boys! Run!" Harry snapped out his strongest shield as they sprinted for the door. There was a crack and a gurgling scream as Mr Adams' lifeless corpse was flipped across the room.

"Fucking move it, Harry!" screamed Isaac, pushing his friend before him as the rest of their form escaped through the exit. Several fast curses and a banished table bounced tested it, but much to Harry's relief, it held. He spotted the sickly-green light flashing towards them and pulled his friend to the floor.

As soon as they were down he began to get up again, pulling at Isaac's shirt and turning back to the door way. He grinned. _Finally!_ Sirius with Remus at his back and both of them looked furious.

"Go." Snarled Sirius at Harry, rapidly casting spells at Bellatrix and Peter, who were too shocked at their sudden appearance to do anything other than shield desperately.

"Come on Isaac" He said, still crouched. His friend didn't move "Isaac, come on." He stared down at the glassy eyes that met his gaze, unseeing. With two sudden pops, everything went quiet, leaving Harry's ears ringing at the sudden silence. He shook his friend, gently at first but getting harder and harder, trying to get a response. "Isaac, come on, quit fooling around, we need to go."

Sirius pulled him gently away "Harry, he's gone."

He tried to escape his godfather's firm hold and go back to his friend's side "No" he choked out, straining against the bear hug before collapsing. Sirius gently lowered him to the ground, keeping his arms wrapped around him as the tears began, Harry still choking out futile protests. Remus moved from checking the form tutor, who was beyond help, cut nearly in two by a curse from one of the escaped convicts and looked sadly down at the corpse of the young boy. A gasp from the doorway called his attention.

"Oh no..." whispered a horrified Fiona Watkins, her hand over her mouth as she took in the scene before her. Remus strode over to her, pulling her head into his chest so she wouldn't have to see. Arcturus strode down the corridor followed by several very serious looking members of the Higgins' security team. He pulled her out into the corridor to allow the new comers access to the class room.

"All packages safe" reported Gordon into the mouth piece attached to his collar as he glanced around the room making his assessment "no targets remaining, two dead civilians." Arcturus surveyed the scene with profound sadness. He gently closed Isaac's eyes with a sigh before moving to do the same for the teacher. Several pops from outside the window called his attention, a firm hand from one of the security men who cradled a muggle semi-automatic rifle kept Arcturus out of sight of the window even as the other man carefully glanced out.

"Ministry wizards. Five of them." He reported "Two pairs of Aurors, one obliviator."

"Roger" acknowledged Gordon "Keep an eye on them Tommy."

Out in the corridor, Remus was still comforting Fiona when the Ministry officials arrived, casting suspicious glances at the heavily armed private security members who returned steady gazes. Remus barely even registered the presence of Kingsley Shacklebolt and Alastor Moody, two comrades from the previous war, focusing instead on the emotional woman in his arms. He was incredibly grateful when Arcturus stepped from the room to deal with the authorities.

"Aurors Moody, Shacklebolt" he greeted respectfully, the two senior Aurors nodded in reply. "Nymphadora" He nodded at the pink-haired trainee who grimaced at the use of her name "I am afraid I don't know you two young men" he finished, addressing the obliviator and the second trainee.

"James Stanfield, Trainee Auror" replied the trainee nervously.

"I" replied the obliviator pompously "am Obadiah Brunwick, Ministry Obliviator, Second Class. Who are you?" He demanded rudely.

"I am Lord Arcturus Black, Head of House Black." Obadiah Brunwick blanched at the realisation that he was addressing one of the more powerful and mysterious wizards in Britain. Before he could think of anything to say to repair his poor first impression, another figure equally shrouded in secrecy, emerged from the classroom that had seen several dark spells, including at least one Unforgivable, set off several alarms in the Ministry. This figure was supporting someone else that could only be one person, and Obadiah caught his breath – this case would make his career!

"Where are they going?" He demanded brusquely. The young boy ignored him and Sirius Black turned to give him a hard look that anyone with any sensitivity for these things would have picked up on. Obadiah completely missed it.

"He's going to check on his friends." Sirius said levelly. Fiona Watkins, pushed herself away from Remus' chest, wiping her eyes even as more tears spread down her cheeks. She reached her hand out and gently took Harry's hand.

"Come on Harry" she said sadly "they're in my class room." As soon as the first of her old students had run in panicking, she had sent Remus a message using the watch he had given her after he had explained about the magical world. Obadiah quickly checked the class room and established that there was no one there who would need his ministrations before turning to follow the sad crowd that headed towards the class room.

A short while later they were joined by the Aurors and the majority of the security team that had come with Lord Black. Harry was staring dejectedly at the wall. His friends had had their memories modified to tie in with the story that would be released to the muggle press – that two escaped convicts had come to the school hunting for Harry, who they now believed would be disappearing into the witness protection scheme. They had been scared off by the arrival of Harry's protection unit, but not before they had killed Isaac and their new form tutor.

"Good" announced the ministry obliviator, "one left." He turned his wand towards Miss Watkins and suddenly found his vision obscured by a furious Remus Lupin who was pointing his wand at him. With a speed that caught even the Aurors by surprise, Arcturus, Sirius, Harry and the wizards and witches of the security team had their wands out as well, covering the obliviator and the Aurors, while the non-magical members were glaring at them down the barrels of various muggle weapons. Even Moody had barely managed to draw his wand, and he kept it pointed carefully at the floor.

"If you so much as think of obliviating my fiancee" growled Remus, voice shaking with fury "I will tear your fucking head from your body and shit down the hole in your neck." Obadiah Brunwick gulped nervously but was otherwise frozen to the spot.

"You're engaged?" Asked Sirius quietly, not taking his eyes from his wand where it was trained on Moody, praying that his old friend wouldn't try to fight against him. Alastor Moody just stared emotionlessly back at him with his good eye, not moving his wand. His magical eye rotated slowly around the room, looking at everyone pointing a weapon at him or the other Aurors before it settled and stared back at Sirius as well. _I think that's a complement_ he thought idly._  
_

"We were going to surprise you this evening." Said Remus just as quietly, keeping himself firmly between the obliviator and Miss Watkins, spare hand gripping her arm protectively.

"Congratulations."

"Thanks"

Very carefully and very slowly, Alastor Moody pushed Obadiah's arm down and pulled his wand from un-resisting fingers.

"I think that would be a very bad idea, don't you?" the grizzled Auror said, pocketing the wand and turning to address the rest of them. "We'll leave you to it. Stick to the story when the muggle police arrive, we'll provide the official reports through our contacts at Scotland Yard." Flashing blue lights outside the window announced the arrival of the muggle police. He motioned for the rest of his team to leave and they moved quietly from the room, Shacklebolt dragging a quietly protesting Obadiah Brunwick away from the angry crowd who relaxed slightly on his departure. "Congratulations Remus, it was good to see you both again" Sirius and Remus gave tense nods in reply "Sorry it was under these circumstances." He met the green eyes of the young boy who had out-drawn Shacklebolt and held the much older wizard at wand-point even after the shake up of the morning's events. Moody pulled his scarred face into a sympathetic smile "You look like your dad. Mum's eyes though." There was no response and he sighed, turning to go "I'm sorry about your friend."

/

The rest of the day passed in a blur for Harry. They returned home, Sirius making a couple of attempts to talk to Harry who simply ignored him, lost in his thoughts. He made his slow way up the steps, to the front door and dropped his school bag.

"Congratulations on your engagement Remus." He whispered quietly and made his way upstairs.

He was still there two hours later when there was a soft knock at the door. He ignored it and the door opened anyway.

"Harry..." Victoria's soft voice pulled him back to the present and he turned to her. She joined him on the bed and wrapped her arms around him, beginning to cry softly "I just heard. I came straight here... I'm so sorry."

Harry let out a choked sob. "It was my fault" he whispered "they died because of me..." the tears started again in earnest and Victoria tightened her hug. He pulled her to him desperately and sobbed.

"It wasn't you Harry, no" she shushed his attempts at protests "it was them. Mr Adams was a brave man who tried to save you of his own choice and Isaac" she choked on the name as Harry's tears increased "Isaac was doing for you exactly what you would have done for him, because he was your friend." Harry just cried. Sirius wept silently from where he was listening outside the doorway before making his way slowly downstairs.

/

Hermione stared in abject horror at the paper before her on the table in her parents' dining room. Below the two mugshots of Peter Pettigrew and Bellatrix Lestrange was the headline

_**Escaped Convicts Attack School Leaving Two Dead**_

"Isn't this terrible" commented her father sadly, looking over her shoulder at the article "such a young boy taken so horribly." She ignored him and read through the article that described the muggle-version of the Death Eater's escape from Azkaban as well as a summary of the events that had lead them there. She hated herself for breathing a small sigh of relief when she realised that the dead school boy wasn't Harry Potter, before carefully tearing the article out and sending it to Neville with a letter.

/

_**Pettigrew and Lestrange Attack Potter, **_

_**Boy-Who-Lived Dodges Death Again!**_

_**By Rita Skeeter**_

_**The final day of school is supposed to be one of laughter and anticipation for students everywhere. Unfortunately for one muggle school in London, an attack by escaped Death Eaters Peter Pettigrew and Bellatrix Lestrange has left two dead, one teacher and one student. While the loss of life is obviously a tragedy, you may well be asking why two convicts on the run would attack such a target. Well dear readers, I can now reveal that Harry Potter, going by the name of Harry Black, was in fact attending this exclusive muggle school and was the target of the attack. Fortunately for him, the timely actions of Private Security company The Higgins Security Group, partly owned by Lord Arcturus Black, meant that Pettigrew and Lestrange fled before they could harm young Mr Potter.**_

_**While the Black family could not be reached directly, the following statement was released on their behalf: "Harry survived the attack but is understandably shaken. It is with great regret that the family has decided that he will not be returning to Westminster in the new year and will instead attend Hogwarts."**_

Neville scoffed disgustedly as the article continued. They didn't even mention the names of the two that had died, not thinking that muggles were worth the printing space. He wondered exactly what had been left out of the statement.

He was drafting a letter to Hermione when an owl from his friend arrived, bearing a muggle newspaper with the same story. He found that they provided a much more in depth and respectful article on the death of the ex-soldier who had turned to teaching and on the talented young student who had been taken too soon, including details on the memorial services for both of the departed.

Re-writing his letter and including he sent off the Daily Prophet article and sat down deep in thought. After a long moment of consideration, he began drafting a letter to Lord Black.

/

The first week of the summer holidays, when they had been planning so many entertaining activities, was instead spent attending the funerals of the victims of the attack. Arcturus had mentioned that he had had a meeting with Minister Fudge who had begged him to keep Harry away from both of them. He didn't pass on the Minister's comments wondering why Harry would want to attend the funerals of a "couple of muggles", but did mention that there would be a pair of Aurors watching out for any potential threats.

Harry barely noticed the two Aurors amongst all the other security that was on site. As well as two muggle police cars there was the entire Higgins Security Group looking incredibly serious and a small army sent over by Pyotr's father who "did something with oil" according to Russian. Harry almost hadn't come to the funeral, worried that Isaac's parents would blame him for their son's death. Instead it had almost been worse when he had gone to see them the day after it had happened.

Rebecca Hornbeam had been almost catatonic since she had heard about what had happened, slumping to the sofa and barely moving since, staring emptily into space. When Harry had walked in, tears streaming down his face at the memories their home invoked, she had sprung from the sofa and he initially thought she was going to hit him. Instead she wrapped him in a hug and they bawled their eyes out together.

As he was leaving, Jacob Hornbeam had pulled him aside, voice cracking and looking almost as bad as his wife, though doing his best to remain strong.

"Look Harry" he began awkwardly "I know that this is hard for you... you were Isaac's best friend and you've been close as brothers for the last two years" he choked out a sob and brushed away his tears, casting a pleading look at Harry "would you – could you say something at the funeral?" He caught the look of horror on Harry's face "Please?" he begged "It would mean the world to us."

There was nothing Harry wanted to do less. He sniffed, wiping his nose with the back of his hand "What do I say?" Jacob Hornbeam gave the young man a teary smile and a brief, awkward hug.

"Just say goodbye to your friend."

And now here he was, dressed in a dark suit and looking out at the sad faces that had gathered to pay their final respects to his best friend. _How the hell am I supposed to get through this?_ He took a deep breath picking up on the shaky smiles of support from Victoria and Sirius.

"I was" he choked and cleared his throat, starting again "I was asked to say a few words today to say goodbye to my friend... to our friend" he corrected himself, looking at the rest of his form group "Isaac Hornbeam. At first, I didn't want to. Not because I didn't want to, but because I wasn't sure what to say. How do you say goodbye to your best friend, knowing that they should still be here with you?" He tried to read his prepared speech through blurry eyes and sniffed loudly. "You can't" he answered himself softly "You don't want to say goodbye because it's too hard." He took a deep breath and looked out over the audience. "But Isaac was strong and brave. Whenever we were in trouble, which was more than it should have been" teary smiles could be seen throughout the audience "Isaac was always the first to stand up and try and take the blame. Even if it was someone else's fault, and it usually was." Harry wiped more tears away, before admitting "It was usually mine." There were a few shaky laughs from people who were familiar with their antics, and Harry gave a weak smile. "On... on the day that he died" he heard a sob from Mrs Hornbeam in the front row as she buried her face into her husband's shoulder "two people came looking for me. They asked for Harry Potter, my birth name, and they were going to try and kill me." Harry shook his head as if trying to get rid of the memory, his voice cracking as he continued "And Isaac, he just stood up without a moment's hesitation and just said "I'm Harry Potter". He knew that they were looking for me, and he figured that I was in trouble and decided that he would try take the blame for me. Again" Tears streaming down his cheeks Harry forced himself to stand up straighter and tried to clear the lump that had lodged itself firmly in his throat. "But that's who he was. He was strong and he was brave and he always put his friends first. Now, now it's our turn to be strong, our turn to be brave" he looked over at the too small coffin that held the body of his friend "now it's our turn to say goodbye." It seemed to take him forever before he could summon the strength for his final line "Goodbye, Isaac, my friend, my brother. I will never forget you."

At the back of the church, Hermione held Neville's hand in a death grip, tears streaming down her face for the boy she had never met.

/

Harry was dry-eyed at the memorial service for Stephen Adams, not for lack of sympathy, but because he was emotionally drained after the funeral for Isaac the day before. A large number of the mourners were friends of his from his army days and had arrived in uniform, one of them at all times looking after the grieving widow.

After the service finished, a young man in uniform discretely went around those gathered to pay their respects, collecting contributions for the widow to help her out. Fiona Watkins went to pay her respects to her colleagues' widow while Arcturus nodded and pulled his cheque book out, quickly scrawling out an amount and handing it over. The young officer's eyebrows nearly went through the roof.

"This is..."

"Not enough to bring him back." Said Arcturus, cutting him off and allowing no further arguments as he and Harry made his way forward to the newly widowed Mrs Adams.

"Umm, Mrs Adams?" She looked curiously at him through her tears "I just wanted to say how sorry I am... if it wasn't for me Mr Adams would still..."

"Don't!" She interrupted him harshly, anger in her voice and he looked up, surprised "My husband died to protect you." She softened her voice, seeing the shock on his face "He would have done that for any one of his brothers in combat, and he would have done it for any one of his students, it's just who he was. Please don't try and take that from him." Harry just nodded softly. "You know he was really looking forward to teaching you?" He looked up at her in surprise and she smiled wistfully, stroking her growing bump "He kept talking about a form of trouble makers that were going to be his for next year and how interesting it was going to be." Harry just smiled weakly.

"He seemed like a really nice man." It sounded somehow... empty to say something like that to the grieving widow and he struggled for the right words "We were all looking forward to next year..." he trailed off, realising that there were no right words and settled for "I'm really sorry he's gone."

She smiled sadly "Me too." As they turned to go, the young officer with the envelope leant down to whisper in her ear. She stared at him in shock before pushing herself to her feet. Arcturus and Harry were almost out the door before she caught up with them.

"Lord Black?" She asked hesitantly.

"Yes my dear?" Came the kindly reply. She held out the cheque that he had written her. He looked at it and gave a small smile, making no move to take it.

"I'm sorry, but I can't accept it, it's too much." She pushed it towards him again. He took her hand and slowly closed her fingers around the crumpled paper.

"Mrs Adams" he said gently "you said a moment ago that your husband would have gladly given his life for any one of his friends or his students and I'm sure he would have, but in this instance, he gave it for my great-grandson. I cannot bring your husband back to you, but please, let me honour his memory by helping his widow." She stared up at this strange man who hadn't even known her husband "If you won't accept it for yourself, please, place it in a trust fund for you child." She nodded, finally accepting the cheque.

"Thank you." She whispered quietly at their retreating backs as they joined Fiona and walked down the path to a waiting car. Wondering if she would ever see either of them again. She would, nearly eleven years later, when her son received a very strange letter from an even stranger school.

/

By the end of the summer holidays, Harry concluded that this was undoubtedly the worst he had ever had. After boxing up their worldly possessions, he had said a very tearful goodbye to Victoria, not knowing when they would see each other again, if ever. He ached as the drove away from the familiar street that had been home for as long as he could remember, a small crowd of their friends and neighbours waving them off, ostensibly disappearing into the Witness Protection Program. Throughout the summer, he felt regular twinges as the charms on Victoria's locket activated and he was treated to glimpses of her as she held the locket and thought of him. To begin with it was heartbreaking as he simply saw her crying into her pillow and he cried with her. As the weeks went by there were more and more moments where she was thinking of him in a happier context and he had to start being very careful not to smile randomly when the images came up. He hoped and prayed that he would see her again before too long.

They had spent two days in Grimmauld Place before Remus declared that if they were there another day with Kreacher's insults to his fiancé, he would "flay the little shit-stain alive and make him eat his own skin." When this made even the portrait of Walburga Black stare in horrified admiration at the threat, they realised that everyone's nerves might be just a tiny bit on edge and they moved to one of the Black estates in the countryside.

Half way through the second week, Arcturus called a family, for want of a better word, meeting.

"Harry" he began "about school next year..."

"Hogwarts?"

"Hogwarts" confirmed Sirius softly. There was a sad silence around the living rom as they all considered the changes that this would have on them.

"Well at least I'm up to date with my school work." Harry mused, desperately trying to look on the bright side. Remus gave an encouraging smile and then Harry turned to look at him with an intensity that had been missing ever since the last day of term. "But we're all missing the obvious thing here: have you guys set a date yet?"

Fiona chuckled, the first truly happy sound any of them had been able to produce. "The beginning of next summer" she said from her position on the sofa, legs curled up under her and leaning in to Remus. She looked up at him with a small smile "we're rather enjoying living in sin at the moment."

"Yep" agreed Remus, kissing the top of Fiona's head before turning towards Sirius "and it will give you plenty of time to plan the Stag do and your speech." A look of confusion crossed his friend's face.

"Why would I be giving a speech? And why do I have to plan the Stag do, that's the best man's job."

"Well" Remus flustered, confusion on his face now as well "you are my best man... Aren't you?"

"Am I?" Asked Sirius, worry in his voice now. He'd had a couple of heavy nights on the sauce recently, but he was sure he'd remember something like that. "Wait, have you asked me to be your best man?"

"I don't know, have I?" Now Remus was confused. He turned to Fiona "Have I asked Sirius to be my best man?" She rolled her eyes.

"No, darling, it would seem that you haven't" Sirius relaxed, glad that he hadn't forgotten something so important.

"Oh" Remus paused to think of how to word this, before turning to his friend "Padfoot old boy?"

"Yes, Moony old chum?" Remus thought hard for a moment.

"I have known you since we were at school and of all my friends, you have put up with me the longest, despite all my failings and my 'furry little problem'. You haven't died, you haven't betrayed our group of friends to the evil wizard trying to betray us and you are possibly one of the best men that I know."

"Hey!" Cried Arcturus and Harry in unison. Remus just waved irritably for them to be quiet.

"You have been by my side all this time, and I cannot think of anyone better to stand by my side as I marry the woman I love." He took a deep breath and finished with a rush "Would you be my best man?" he asked hopefully.

Sirius nodded, and brushed irritably at his cheek.

"That was better than what he said to me when he proposed." Grumbled Fiona.

"That's because he loves me more." Coughed Sirius, turning to rummage behind the chair for Merlin knew what. Fiona shot bolt upright and glared at his back before realising that there was nothing behind the chair.

"Sirius?" She began softly, receiving a grunt from the man who still had his back to everyone "Are you crying?" He spun round angrily.

"No!" He protested, realising that he hadn't quite brushed all of the tears away as everyone gaped at him in shock. "I have dust allergies."

"You are such a pussy!" Said Fiona, shaking her head in astonished amusement as everyone burst out laughing.

When their mirth subsided, Arcturus spoke up again.

"Actually Harry, there was something else I was going to ask you about Hogwarts." He paused to consider how to word this most appropriately "I wasn't sure if you would be interested, and I want to assure you that in no way are we trying to replace your old friends" Harry's face lost all traces of mirth and took on a thunderous expression. He made as if to say something, but Arcturus pushed on "the two students I met sent me another letter after they heard about what happened at Westminster." Now Harry was trying to not look curious and missed the hopeful looks on everyone else's faces. "They would like to meet with you, before the new school year. I said I would ask, and that it was up to you, but I do hope you'll consider it." He held up a hand to stop the outburst that Harry opened his mouth to deliver "I'm not saying now. I thought perhaps you could all meet up in Diagon Alley when they go to buy their school books. Even if you don't become friends, you will at least know two more people there, which will be helpful."

Harry opened his mouth to reply and closed it almost immediately. He tried and failed again. Third time's the charm.

"Didn't you two traumatise them when they last spoke to you?" Harry asked curiously. Sirius sniggered at the memory.

"Yep." He admitted proudly. Harry turned to his great-grandfather, now very curious.

"And they still want to meet me after that?" He pointed at the grinning Sirius. Arcturus just shrugged and gave a small smile.

"Kids are resilient." He observed dryly. Harry nodded.

"Alright, I'll think about it."

The rest of them nodded happily, glad that Harry appeared to be proving Arcturus' statement correct as well and was slowly recovering from his ordeal, before they began making further plans for the rest of summer.

/

Towards the end of the summer holidays Hermione was bouncing with nervous energy at a table in Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, awaiting the arrival of Harry Potter. Neville was sat next to her, idly picking at his chocolate sundae and really not caring at all, more concerned about the possibility that Harry might live up to the Black family reputation and carry out Arcturus' previous threats.

Hermione grabbed his arm in a death grip that had him wincing.

"He's here!" she hissed excitedly before waving furiously. Neville looked up to assess the new comer and couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious. They were about the same height, but Harry was broader and lacking the puppy fat that Neville was struggling to shake, stretching out the muggle tee-shirt that he wore in a way that caught the eye of several of the young witches, though that could have been because he was completely neglecting wizarding dress codes and couldn't have stood out more if he had fireworks going off around him. Harry pulled off his sunglasses and tucked them into the top of his tee-shirt and stopped by their table. Normally at this point, there would have been an awkward silence. Instead, Hermione started talking.

"Hi! How are you? Are you ok? How has your summer been? I was really sorry to hear about your friends, are you ok? I'm a really good listener if you want to talk about it, but you don't have to if you don't want to. Have a seat? Would you like an ice-cream? I'm Hermione by the way, this is Neville."

Harry just stared at her. He turned to Neville, who just shrugged and gave a small smile as if to say 'yep, she's for real' as he stood and offered a hand to shake. Harry shook it cautiously before shaking Hermione's belatedly extended hand as well.

"Neville, Hermione, a pleasure." He paused before looking at Hermione intently "And in order: Hi! I'm fine thanks, how are you? Yes I'm ok, I just said I'm fine didn't I? Summer has been ok, how was yours? Thanks, I'm sure you are but I don't want to talk about it." he sat down with a "Yes I would like a seat, and yes, chocolate fudge sundae looks good. Is it?" He directed the last question at Neville who just grinned and nodded. Hermione was stood silently staring into the space where he had been, moving her lips slightly as she tallied his answers with her questions.

"That was impressive, I've never thought of using that approach before." Commented Neville as Harry waved Mr Fortescue over and ordered his ice-cream.

"It was worth a shot" replied Harry with a shrug as Neville took a mouthful of his sundae "the alternative was snogging her, but as I'm kind of seeing someone at the moment it didn't seem appropriate." Neville nearly choked and Hermione, who had taken her seat and had just prepared her next barrage of questions was left open mouthed and blushing furiously. Harry smiled "Close your mouth Hermione, you look like an oik." Her jaw clicked shut. "So," he changed the topic with a smile "I hear you met Arcturus and Sirius last summer?" Hermione and Neville shuddered at the memory and Harry nodded sympathetically "Yeah, they can have that effect on people the first time they meet them. We're trying to get them housebroken, but it's a work in progress."

Neville who was the first to recover, glanced at Hermione, who was still wrong-footed by the sudden change in subject. "You're really good at that you know?" He said to Harry with a small smile, indicating his friend with a nod.

"Yep" said Harry, thanking Mr Fortescue for his ice-cream and digging in. "You should try it some time, it's good fun!" Hermione's jaw dropped open in outrage "Hey, you were right, this is really good." Commented Harry around his mouthful of sundae.

"Hermione, mouth, oik" said Neville. Hermione's jaw snapped shut for the second time in as many minutes and it was Harry's turn to nearly spit ice-cream across the table, much to Neville's amusement.

"Wait" said Hermione, finally finding her voice and an opportunity to start a conversation "back track a little for me here. How can you be kind of seeing someone? Is it that girl we saw you with at the rugby game? You're really good by the way. What's her name?"

"Long story, yes, thank you, Victoria." He shot back just as quickly, infuriating Hermione further "Any more questions?" He asked with a cheeky grin.

They, mostly Hermione, continued to pepper him with questions on his life so far as he finished his ice-cream during which he skilfully avoided answering any questions on either Isaac or Victoria before they left some money on the table for Mr Fortescue and left to start their shopping. Neville and Hermione squinted against the bright sunlight and Harry gave a small smirk as he put his sunglasses back on, perusing the books list he had been sent.

"Books first and then the rest?" They nodded their agreement and headed towards Flourish and Blotts.

"I have to ask" said Neville as they were leaving "Lord Black seemed pretty hot on security and your privacy. I get why you're now revealing yourselves to the wizarding world, but why don't you have any security with you?"

Harry gave him an unreadable look from behind his sunglasses "Who says I don't have any security?" Hermione began looking round, trying to see who was on Harry's protection detail and not seeing anyone that she was sure of.

"Where..." she began curiously, still craning her head around.

"Well they wouldn't be very good if they were easy to spot now would they?" Harry said, pointing out the obvious "Also who says I need security?"

"But the attack before summer..." Protested Hermione.

"I don't think that's what he meant Hermione" said Neville cautiously, reassessing the young boy walking next to him who was moving with a casual assurance that he had originally attributed to the confidence imbued to the scion of a noble house – well, two noble houses – who had been schooled by Lord Black and two of the most notorious fighters for the light from the last war. Now he was beginning to think they probably weren't just teaching him about a noble's responsibilities in the world. "I think" he explained to her confused look "he means that he has probably had a few more lessons in defence than we have."

Harry pushed the door open and held it for them as they entered the book store, grinned at them and pulled his sunglasses off in time to give Hermione a wink. "One or two." He confirmed cheerfully. Hermione almost forgot to blush as the entered one of her top five places in the world and made a beeline for the book shelves where they could find their school texts, pulling three copies of each into a large stack in her arms while the two boys followed her at a much slower pace, each taking part of the stack as it began to get too much for the young girl to handle.

Neville stopped and balanced his books on one hip, idly thumbing through a book on duelling. Harry looked over his shoulder at it.

"Thinking of taking up a career as a dueller after school?" He asked politely. Neville gave a short laugh and added the book to his stack.

"Nah," he said dismissively "I'm not good enough. There's a club at school that Lockhart set up last year before he left that the new DADA teacher will probably carry on, which is pretty good. I have" he hesitated, not wanting to share his desire to hunt down Bellatrix Lestrange with his new friend just yet "other plans for after school, and besides, it's good to know in case you end up in a fight."

"Hmmm" said Harry, realising there was probably more to it than that but appreciating not wanting to share and skimmed the titles on the shelves near him, adding a couple of extra texts on charms and runes "but if you're worried about fighting, I wouldn't recommend duelling, it'll end up getting you killed." He saw the confused expression on Neville's face "Oh don't get me wrong, it's a good starting point, but if you do get into a fight, it wont always be one on one and you'll need to do things that aren't allowed in duelling to survive."

"Like what?" Hermione had caught the last part of the conversation and came over to join them, adding a few more books to Neville's stack. She taking off one of the additional texts from Harry's pile to read the title and the blurb on the back before nodding appreciatively and putting it back.

"Well you'll want to move a bit more than you can in a dueller's circle for starters, then you've got other weapons you might want to use, swords, staves, that sort of thing." He continued casually before picking up on the shocked looks of his new friends. "What?"

"One or two lessons?" Hermione said accusingly.

"It was one or two" He protested indignantly. The silence dragged awkwardly and he began to feel a little uncomfortable under their accusing stares. He sighed "Per day." Their eyebrows shot up "For two years." Hermione's jaw dropped and snapped shut as soon as she saw Harry's mouth open to tell her she was an oik again. He grinned at them both "Come on, I still need to get to Madam Malkin's."

As they were waiting to pay, Hermione and Neville heard a voice they had really hoped they could go the entire summer without.

"Well well well, what's this?" Came the arrogant drawl "Longbottom, are you hiring muggles to carry your shopping around for you now? Not a bad idea that, I might have to hire one of my own."

"Oh do piss off, Draco." Neville sighed tiredly, smiling apologetically at a customer he was sure he recognised from somewhere. The woman just winked back at him and carried on queueing for her own purchases.

Harry turned around and saw a slim, blond boy with slicked back hair and an arrogant smirk on his face flanked by two – well, he assumed they were boys, but they looked more like partly shaved gorillas. Only uglier. Much uglier. Harry looked the blond up and down. He snorted softly and turned back to the counter.

"What? Something to say muggle?" Harry saw the angry expression on Neville's face and decided to respond before Neville did. _I guess I wont be making friends with this one. How ever will I manage?_ Harry thought to himself, turning round to see the arrogant sneer replaced with a scowl.

"To you? Not really, I can feel myself getting stupider just standing here in your vicinity, I'm not sure if that's you or the ridiculous number of chemicals you must be using for your hair or the potions to stop Dumb and Dumber here" he waved his spare hand at the two hench-apes "from reverting to their base form, which I'm assuming is a tree stump." The boy identified as Draco's mouth dropped open in amazement.

"Did he just call us Dumb and Dumber?" Asked ape one of ape two, trying to work out if he had been insulted.

"Which one am I?" Asked ape two.

"If you have to ask, you're Dumber." Sighed Harry, catching sight of Hermione's grin from the corner of his eye. At least someone got the reference.

"Draco, close your mouth, you look like an oik." The cool voice came from a taller version of Draco, carrying a silver headed cane. Hermione, Harry and Neville smirked as the other boy's mouth clicked close.

"But father..." He was stilled by a raised finger from the older man and resorted to scowling at the trio from behind his father's back.

The older man cast his gaze over Neville and Hermione before ignoring them to focus on Harry, who met his gaze evenly.

"You must be Harry Potter." He stated flatly, examining the boy in question with the same sort of gaze scientists use for a particularly interesting insect.

"Nope." Harry replied, staring back and carefully mimicking the look. One carefully sculpted eyebrow raised by a fraction of an inch. The silence stretched on as Harry refused to elaborate.

"Then exactly who are you?" The voice now had a tinge of irritation. Harry grinned back at him.

"Harry Black." The eyebrow rose a fraction further and Harry decided not to push his luck any further "My god-father, Sirius Black, formally adopted me a while back." There was the slightest twitch at the mention of Sirius' name from the older man and his fingers tightened over the top of his cane_ How interesting. Thought Harry. I wonder what he'll say to the next bit?_ "It was just after Arcturus named Sirius as his heir to the Black title." A slight flaring of the nostrils in anger from the older man was out done by his son's outburst.

"Wait," chimed in Neville "that means that you're going to be the future Lord Black!"

"Yep!" Replied Harry cheerfully.

"No!" Draco shouted indignantly "That was supposed to be mine!"

"Not any more." Said Harry with an insolent shrug. Draco's further spluttering protests were cut off with an angry look from his father. He turned back to Harry.

"In that case I must congratulate you on your good fortune as well as introduce myself" he extended a hand "Lucius Malfoy." Harry shook his hand firmly, meeting Lucius' calm gaze with one of his own.

"A pleasure, Lord Malfoy" he said courteously "and how is your wife? I believe she is my aunt by adoption now." Lucius gave a small smile that never reached his eyes.

"Well thank you, I will pass her your regards." He turned to leave.

"And how about your sister-in-law?" Lucius froze, turning slowly back to re-assess the boy who had addressed him.

"I'm afraid I haven't seen dear Bella since she went to Azkaban, shortly after your parent's death."

"Uhuh" responded Harry disbelievingly. Neville and Hermione were getting increasingly nervous at the turn events of the day had taken. "Well if you do see her, could you pass her a message for me?"

Lord Malfoy gave a tight smile and a nod, curious to hear what message this school boy had for one of the most feared escaped criminals in wizarding and muggle Britain. Harry's gaze went cold and, had he been ten years older, Lucius might even have felt a little intimidated. Not that he would have shown it, even then.

"Tell her I'm going to cut her fucking throat for what she's done." There was a shocked gasp from Hermione at his profanity and Neville winced, apologising to the customers who were now paying them a lot more attention. Lucius' face twisted in anger and he took a menacing step towards Harry.

In a flash, four of the customers around them dropped the books they were holding and had Lord Malfoy at wand-point. Hermione gave a small shriek and Neville started towards his own wand until he was stilled by a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and the woman who had winked at him earlier just gave a small shake of her head, not taking her eyes from the man in front of her. He gulped and moved his hand away very carefully. Harry just met the elder Malfoy's glare with one of his own.

"Be careful, boy" Lucius' voice was now shaking with anger, though he maintained enough control to keep his hands carefully away from his wand "if you play with the grown ups you're likely to get hurt. It would be terrible for you to follow the same path as your parents and your little muggle friend." Harry's hand twitched for his own wand but was stilled with a supreme effort of will.

"Are you threatening our client?" Asked one of the security team, voice soft and dangerous. Lord Malfoy turned his glare on the man who met it impassively over the top of his wand.

"No." He denied "Just a friendly warning. Good day, Black." He turned with a swirl of robes, taking Draco and Dumb and Dumber with him.

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief before turning to Harry. Whatever she was about to say was forgotten as she recognised the witch that had stopped Neville from drawing his wand.

"You!" She said accusingly "You were in the alleyway with Lord Black last summer!"

The woman smiled back at her, holstering her wand and picking up her fallen books. She passed them one of her colleagues, all of whom had now given up on trying to blend into the background and were taking up positions around the three of them to give them a good view of the other customers in the shop.

"Katie West" she said, shaking first Hermione's and then Neville's hand "part of the protection detail for Harry when he's out in public. Sorry for the scare we gave you that time" they smiled nervously back at her "That's Ian, Dave and Keiron" she pointed out the other members of the team.

They paid and left in silence, the rest of the shop eyeing them all nervously after the encounter.

"Sorry" said Harry once they were back out in the sunshine, packages shrunken and pocketed. "I shouldn't have involved you guys in that." Neville shrugged.

"It's ok" sighed Hermione resignedly "Draco's been a pain in the neck since our first year. Just count yourself lucky there weren't blows this time, last year he and Mr Weasley – that's one of our house-mates' parents – ended up fighting each other in there."

"What, Draco fought with this guy's dad?" Asked Harry skeptically. He thought about it for a moment. "I wish I could have seen it though."

"No," said Neville, shaking his head and smiling at the memory Draco's dad and Mr Weasley were fighting."

"Oh" Harry pulled up the mental image and grinned "I still wish I could have seen it."

Even Hermione smiled wanly, admitting that it was fairly entertaining in hindsight.

"I still can't believe you said you were going to cut Bellatrix Lestrange's fllii... flll..." She began. Harry stared at her in concern, wondering if someone had managed to hex her in the store while they weren't looking.

"What's going on?" He asked Neville out of the corner of his mouth. The other boy just shrugged.

"She can't swear. Get's about that far and just stops." Harry stared at her in amazement before throwing an arm around her shoulder and guiding her towards one of the sweet selling stalls that had caught his eye on their way over.

"Don't worry Hermione" he said consoling the girl "Neville and I can fucking swear enough for all fucking three of us, can't we Nev?" Neville grinned back at him. He was starting to really like Harry Black. Not only had he been able to shut Hermione up within two minutes, which was reason enough to keep him around, he had also shot down Draco Malfoy and then stood up to Draco's father. Granted he had a squad of security personnel at his back, but still. The cherry on the cake was that he apparently wanted the Bella-bitch dead as much as he did.

"You're fucking right." He confirmed with a nod. _This year could be very interesting_, he thought.

"Harry" began Hermione curiously, doing her best to ignore the swearing and accepting the change in conversation, "can I ask you a question?"

"Apparently so" he replied cheekily, and she huffed irritably, jabbing him hard in the ribs with her elbow and shaking his arm from her shoulder. "Ow! Sorry. Ask me another one then."

"As you weren't here at the start of first year, you didn't get sorted, so how are you going to find out what house you're in?"

Harry just grinned back at her and tapped the side of his nose conspiratorially. Neville smiled back and Hermione let out another huff and strode ahead of them to the stall.

Hermione Granger didn't swear. Ever. But if she did, she would have been thinking to herself _That boy is so flipping annoying!_

_A/N: Hey folks, hope you enjoyed it! I know it started off a little darker than previous chapters and as a heads up, there will be others that go like this as well but hopefully you'll enjoy them as well._

_As another heads up, I've been able to smash out so many chapters so quickly because I'm currently on leave. Sadly, it's back to work Monday. I'm going to do my best to get one more out by the end of the weekend and another one, maybe two next week. After that, I'm going to be without internet for quite a while, so I won't be able to post - on the plus side, when I get back I should have several chapters to go up at once. So, apologies in advance for the wait, I hope you'll be patient._

_In the mean time: if you enjoyed it, or even if you didn't, please leave a review!_

_YA,_

_Notsoancientmariner_


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N So I don't have several chapters to go up, but I have this one and most of another almost ready to go. Sorry for the long wait, I hope you think it's worth it!_

Sirius, Remus, Arcturus and Harry sat in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts the week before school was due to start. Harry had been told what to expect by Sirius and Remus, who had been in here on more than one occasion when they were students and then again after leaving school when they had joined the Order of the Phoenix, but he was still impressed by the number of bizarre trinkets that whistled and plinked from the shelves. It was also the first time he had seen a phoenix, though he was less than impressed by this as it had only just stuck its still bald head from the pile of ashes, looked around with one bleary eye and stuck it's head back into the ash.

"Yes" said Dumbledore with a fond smile at the bowl of ash that was hiding the baby phoenix "he is somewhat less impressive as a hatchling than when he's at full strength, isn't he?"

Harry just smiled at the old man, whose eyes twinkled as he assessed the young boy in front of him.

Shortly after they had left their home in Belgravia, Sirius had sent a letter by owl to Dumbledore requesting Harry's admittance at Hogwarts for the new term. Despite the headmaster's offer to come to visit them during the holidays, Sirius and Arcturus had delayed him, citing Harry's need to recover from his ordeal before bringing any further excitement into his life. As a result, they were now here, Sirius and Remus as Harry's guardians and Lord Black as Head of House Black, while Headmaster Dumbledore was joined by Professor McGonagall, who had been rather put out when Harry hadn't been impressed by her transformation out of her cat form as he arrived. Had she known of Sirius' animagus abilities, she probably wouldn't have bothered trying, but she greeted the remaining Marauders with a fond smile that became rather flustered as she received Lord Black's kiss to the back of her hand, delivered with a small smile and a discreet wink.

Dumbledore and McGonagall looked at the young boy before them critically. He carried himself with a measure of assurance that most students his age did not possess and even though he was of average size for his age, he was in much better physical shape than most of the other wizards, who neglected exercise in favour of the easier options that magic provided - though potions could reduce weight and strip fat, the headmaster always thought that there was something... healthier about the non-magical way. Albus would speak to the Hat after Harry's Sorting and try to determine how much psychological damage had been caused by the attack at Westminster**, **as he had no intention of trying legilimency on a member of a noble house, especially not when the head of that house was also present. In all, Dumbledore was impressed, but also a little worried. To fulfil the prophesy, he needed to be able to shape this young boy into the next warrior for the light and it would be much easier to do that if he was alone, isolated and needing an authority figure to look up to that Dumbledore would, of course, step in to. Instead, the boy had both his parents' friends and the head of a noble and ancient house to look after him - normally this would not overly concern Dumbledore, as his allies amongst the noble houses would follow his lead, however a House such as the Blacks, with the historically questionable morals raising the boy who was to defeat Lord Voldemort? That was certainly cause for concern, and something that Dumbledore would most definitely have to do something about.

"Now Harry" Dumbledore addressed the young boy before him. "We wanted to take this opportunity to say how sorry we were about your teacher and your friend." There was a flash of sadness across the Harry's face and a hint of anger in his eyes. _Still a touchy subject then_, noted the headmaster "We wish you were coming to us under better circumstances, but we are glad that you are here after all, back where you belong." Dumbledore noted a slight twitch of annoyance on Sirius' face at the comment.

"I always was where I belong, sir." Responded Harry, voice carefully neutral "At home with my family." Dumbledore's eyebrows raised slightly, not used to being corrected by students.

"Indeed Mr Potter" stepped in professor McGonagall "I believe what the headmaster meant was..."

"I'm sorry to correct you, Professor" and now it was her eyebrows' turn to raise as Harry spoke up again "but it's Mr Black. I was formally adopted by my father, Sirius Black, almost two years ago, and have been going by the name of Black since even before then. It would be an insult to both my father and to Lord Black, who kindly agreed to my adoption, if I were to reject his name."

Dumbledore and McGonagall were so shocked by the refutation of his name that the silence dragged on for some time. Harry and his entourage kept their faces carefully neutral. They had discussed what name Harry wanted to go by before they had left and decided that it didn't really matter to them. It had been Sirius' idea to pick the opposite to whichever one that the Headmaster chose, and the idea had entertained them all enough to run with it.

"I understand that Harry" said Dumbledore gently, breaking the silence "but do you not think that your parents deserve a certain measure of respect as well? They did, after all, sacrifice their lives for you." He had to find a way of inserting himself into this boy's life to begin shaping him for the battles before him, and part of that would involve breaking him away from the Black family. The easiest way for him to begin the process to do that would be for him to convince Harry to reject their name.

"Of course" said Harry "I have the utmost respect for my parents, which is why I shall be taking up my role as Head of House Potter as soon as I reach seventeen."

"And at that point, will you retain the name Black?" Asked Dumbledore, seizing this opportunity. No one could beat him at this sort of thing and his eyes began to twinkle in anticipation.

Harry shrugged. "I haven't decided yet, it rather depends on whether Sirius has children and heirs for the Black name other than myself."

"I think perhaps there might be a little bit of a problem with that." Began Dumbledore.

"Are you implying that my grandson is unable to sire children, Headmaster?" Came the cool voice from Arcturus Black and an offended _"Harrumph"_ from Sirius himself.

"What?" Asked Dumbledore, wrong-footed by the sudden insertion of the Black Patriarch into the conversation. He hastily made the connection "No of course not, I'm sure he's very virile."

"Very." Confirmed a somewhat mollified Sirius.

"But there is some precedent within wizarding law that would prevent young Harry from taking up the reins of the Potter family were he to renounce their name." He smiled sympathetically at Harry. _Jackpot_ he thought, _they wont wish to relinquish the Potter fortune over a name._ "I am sorry, but it is simply better - for the greater good" _Merlin I love using that phrase, gets them every time_ "if you retain your original name, Mr Potter."

A thoughtful expression came across Harry's face. He looked up. "What about hyphenations?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, in my last school there was a boy named Tarrington-Smythe, what about combining them like that and keeping both sides happy?" Dumbledore's jaw didn't quite drop, but only because he was used to keeping a tight control on his emotions. Thinking about it for a moment, he decided that a compromise here would be acceptable. He could always encourage him to drop the 'Black' at a later date.

"I suppose that Potter-Black would satisfy both parties from a legal point." Conceded Dumbledore with a small nod of the head.

"Actually" replied Harry, with a smile at his godfather "I think Black-Potter would be preferable." His new headmaster gave another nod. There was no point arguing semantics at this stage.

"Very well, Mr Black-Potter it is." Harry allowed himself the smallest of smiles and Sirius grinned down at him. "Now that we have that out of the way" continued the Headmaster "as you were unfortunately absent during your first year, we shall have to sort you into your house. This will be done at the start of the term with the rest of the first years. Though you will be slightly older than them, I am sure you will find plenty of common ground, and there will always be the common room of whichever house you are sorted into, to socialise with those your own age." A very confused look spread across Harry's face, and he turned towards Sirius, the unasked question answered with a shrug. Both of them were saved by Arcturus' smooth interruption.

"Actually Headmaster" he said, producing a sheaf of papers and sliding them across the desk for the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress to examine "we have ensured that Harry remains up to date with his schooling, these exam papers show him as level with, or ahead of, the students in Hogwarts."

Minerva McGonagall, still a little flustered by being corrected by a thirteen year old boy, flicked through to the transfiguration paper and found herself being surprised again. She stared at the exam papers in front of her, checking the front to confirm that they had been invigilated by an authorised ministry official. They had been. "Albus" the surprise was clear in her voice "this puts him nearly two years ahead of most of our students!" Dumbledore met her surprised look with one of his own and they both turned to re-assess Harry, who just shrugged modestly.

"I had some great teachers." He stated. Arcturus smiled at the two shocked Hogwarts alumni. Again it was Dumbledore who recovered first.

"Well I suppose you can join the students going into their third year then..." He began cautiously, only to be interrupted by Remus.

"I thought Professor McGonagall just said he was two years ahead of the other students?" Dumbledore began to feel a little worried. The longer he had to influence the boy, the better. He had hoped to partially isolate him by placing him outside the rest of his year group, but if Harry were to jump straight into his fifth year... he scanned through the papers and realised that he would probably fit in there academically, then Dumbledore's time to influence him would be severely restricted.

"Don't worry Remus," said Harry "I don't mind starting third year - besides, I've already met Hermione and Neville, so I'll know some people in that year."

This revelation had both Dumbledore and McGonagall staring at him in surprise. Arcturus and Sirius smiled at the memory of the two students approaching them. Apparently they had kept their word and not even told Dumbledore.

"Ah yes," reminisced Sirius wistfully at the prank "those two." He caught the expressions on Dumbledore and McGonagall's faces and provided them with some background information. "It would seem that you have two exceptional sleuths within your school - young Miss Granger and Mr Longbottom approached Lord Black and myself and revealed to us that they knew where Harry was going to school." He gave them his best Marauder's grin. "Amazingly resourceful for a couple of first years."

"First years?" Whispered Dumbledore, while McGonagall's jaw dropped.

"Oh yes..." took up Arcturus, casting an annoyed look at McGonagall "I'm sorry Miss McGonagall, but please close your mouth, you look like an oik." The Scots-woman coloured slightly and closed her mouth, but shot him a glare that had intimidated students for several generations and this time was completely ignored. "Yes, once they had found out, they approached me under the guise of doing a project on the Noble Houses of the wizarding world. We established shortly afterwards that they had wanted to question me about young Harry here." he gave Harry a smile as the Harry raised his tea cup to him in salute "I asked that they keep his secret, which they agreed to, and intimated that their doing so would mean that we looked upon them as friends when Harry returned to the wizarding world. I had honestly forgotten all about it until a letter showed up at the start of this summer from them, offering their condolences and asking if Harry would like to meet some current Hogwarts students before starting here."

Dumbledore wondered just how something like this had escaped him before considering if Harry's sorting to another House other than Gryffindor would de-rail his plans. He would have to speak to the Hat before the Sorting at the start of term and see if could be bribed.

"How..." McGonagall struggled for words "interesting." She would have to speak to her two Gryffs when they got back.

"Indeed" agreed the headmaster, struggling to make his eyes twinkle with all these revelations. "In that case, we shall be glad to accept Mr Pot- sorry, Mr Black-Potter at the start of term to join with the third years and he can be sorted at the start of term once the first years have finished."

"Actually headmaster" began Arcturus "if it's not too much trouble, we've spoken with Harry and he would rather be Sorted now. There's going to be enough attention on him when he starts as it is and parading him in front of the whole school would just exacerbate this."

"I'm afraid the Sorting Hat can only be called on for Sorting at the start of the term..." It was a lie, but Dumbledore was damned if he was going to let Harry be sorted without his being able to influence which House the Boy-Who-Lived went into.

"Nonsense!" Interrupted the artefact in question from the stand in the corner sounding remarkably cheerful. It received shocked looks from everyone other than the Headmaster who just thought: _Ah, shit_. "I've been sat here for the last eleven months, three weeks and two days. I could use a warm up. And a dusting."

"Very well," agreed Dumbledore "however, Harry will not be the only student joining us part way through his schooling - we have an exchange student and our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and I will be making a welcoming announcement at the start of the year. I assume this is acceptable?" Arcturus and Harry looked at each other and then back at Dumbledore before nodding their assent.

_Why isn't it swearing at us?_ Wondered Professor McGonagall about the Hat. Dumbledore just shrugged resignedly and with a wave, the Sorting Hat was lifted from it's hook and floated onto Harry's head. Harry felt the slightest tickle of Legilimency and slammed his, by now, much practiced Occlumency shields into place.

_Oh, great idea you little fuck-stain, how in the name of Merlin's shit-smeared underwear do you think I'm going to be able to Sort you if you won't let me see your thoughts?_ The voice came in Harry's head, dripping with sarcasm. Judging by the quiet chatter from the others he could hear continuing in the office around him, no one else could hear it.

_How about I just tell you which house I want to be in?_ Replied Harry cautiously.

_How about you shut the fuck up, drop the shields and let me do my job before I go past them and leave you dribbling in a chair for the rest of your life?_ Harry had never heard a hat talk before, let alone sneer, but then, today had been a day of firsts.

_But what if there's something in there I don't want you to see?_

_Like what? You tugging it to thoughts of your Godfather? His Grandaddy touching you in your no-no place?_ The Hat questioned him caustically before continuing. _Believe me, seen it all be before and I don't give two shits, so here's what's going to happen: You drop the shields, I tell you what House you're going to and we go our separate ways without me turning you into a vegetable._

_How about I tell you what House I want to be in, you give me that house, and if I'm left anything other than exactly as I am now, my family don't have to burn you and piss on the ashes before scraping them into that fire-turkey's litter tray._ Harry thought back. He wasn't sure exactly what they'd do if the Hat did anything to him, but he knew that was probably going to be the nicer than anything he could think of.

There was a pause as the Hat considered the offer. _Fine, what house do you want to be in?_

"Hufflepuff!" The Hat screamed its result to the rest of the room, making Harry wince and everyone else jump just as he thought _Gryffindor_ as loudly as he could. "Fuck!" Swore the Hat as Harry's thoughts came through.

"Well then" said Dumbledore, "that's one more thing out of the way" with another wave of his hand the Hat began to lift off Harry's head only for him to snatch it out of the air and be jammed back on his head.

"Sorry sir, we were halfway through a conversation." Said Harry to the Headmaster before direction a mental _What the blue holy fuck?!_ to the Hat.

_You little shit bag!_ Replied the Hat.

_What the fuck was that with you calling out the name before I said what house I wanted to be in?_ Demanded Harry indignantly. There was a pause.

_I thought you were going to say Hufflepuff._ It thought to Harry, completely unapologetically. To the rest of the room "Sorry, damn Occlumency shields are messing with it all... Slytherin... Wait, we're back to Hufflepuff. Give me a moment" _Why the hell should I give you what you want?_ It addressed to Harry again.

_Because I asked nicely?_ Tried Harry, knowing it wouldn't work. The Hat cackled inside his head by way of response. _Fine, what can I do that would influence your choice?_

_You really think you have any thing that would interest me?_ It asked, amusement clear in it's voice.

I_'ve been raised by two of the most famous pranksters this school has ever seen, and am the heir to two major houses and their fortunes. Try me._ Replied Harry confidently, wondering what the hell a hat could possibly be bribed with.

The Hat was quiet for a moment, before tentatively making a suggestion to Harry. At first he was shocked, then amused. He agreed.

"Gryffindor!" Called the Hat to the wider room.

There was silence. Dumbledore was giving the Hat and Harry a level stare. "Are you sure this time?" He asked, layering on the sarcasm.

"Of course I'm sure you decrepit has-been!" Shot back the Hat in reply. Dumbledore just rolled his eyes and smiled apologetically at his bemused visitors as he floated it back to its position on the hat stand. "Oh brilliant, more time with a hook jammed up my arse, cheers you wrinkled old pervert." It added sarcastically.

"I will find a bigger, sharper stand for next year, unless you are able to control yourself Hat." Said the headmaster sternly in reply. He turned to look at Harry over the top of his glasses, now incredibly curious as to what exactly the Blacks had taught him.

The Hat continued to grumble quietly in the background.

"So..." began Harry, drawing the word out. He turned to Arcturus "Did you talk about the extra-lessons while I was talking to the Hat?" Dumbledore and McGonagall cast more questioning glances at Lord Black and Harry.

"Ah, thank you for the reminder" Arcturus pulled another set of papers from his briefcase, this one much thinner. "As recent events sadly prove, there is a significant threat to Harry's well-being from the supporters of a certain Dark Lord."

"Surely you can't think he's in danger here?!" Cried McGonagall, a little offended at the suggestion that their school was anything but safe. Arcturus just gave her a stare he usually reserved for the particularly stupid. McGonagall just met his gaze evenly.

"Two years ago, a student was attacked by a troll, unleashed by a man possessed by the shade of the aforementioned Dark Lord. You currently employ a former Death Eater as a potions professor, a man who has a long running history for petty, selfish actions and an equally long running feud with both my grandson and my great-grandson's birth father. Yes," he stated, as if explaining something to a three year old "I think he might be in danger here. However" he caveated, stalling further protestations with a raised hand "these risks are acceptable, if, and only if, the following conditions are met." He looked at Dumbledore, who gave him a small nod to continue. He raised a hand, index finger extended "Harry has been receiving lessons in defensive magic for two years now, and will continue to do so."

"That seems eminently sensible." Agreed Dumbledore with a nod, he was about to offer his services as tutor, when Arcturus interrupted.

"Good, I will inform the tutors and let them know. Incidentally, these lessons will include potions. He will not be taught by one of the men directly responsible for the death of his parents." McGonagall looked questioningly at the Headmaster. She had known that Severus was a spy for Dumbledore during the war, but had no idea what Arcturus was talking about now.

"Severus Snape has..." began Dumbledore

"Served the man who was responsible for the death of Harry's parents, and therefore shares in his responsibility." McGonagall's look was carefully schooled to hide her distaste of the potions professor. "I refuse to let him be responsible for the tutoring of someone under my protection and quite frankly I'm amazed that you allow him to remain in this school, regardless of whatever services he may have provided you during the war."

Dumbledore gave a very reluctant nod. "Very well" he began slowly "I have a couple of recommendations as to who could teach Harry potions." Arcturus waved him off dismissively.

"Already taken care of, I will continue to teach Harry in potions" McGonagall put her anger to one side and checked back through Harry's transcripts. His grades for potions, much like everything else, were significantly higher than others in his age group. Arcturus raised a second finger "Two, occasionally these lessons may require him to leave the grounds. We will, so far as possible, ensure that this is only during the scheduled Hogsmead weekends so as not to minimise the interruption to the rest of his schooling." Dumbledore nodded again, though now he was frowning. His opportunities to influence the boy would be even further restricted by this. Arcturus raised a third finger "Three, if at any point I, Sirius, Remus or Harry himself, believes that he is in danger here, we shall remove him immediately with no interference from you." At this last one, Dumbledore looked as though he was about to say something by way of protest. "I should add" said Arcturus hastily, "that if any of these conditions are not met, we will be sending Harry to New Salem." There was a slight pause before he added "Who have already agreed to these terms."

Albus Dumbledore thought about it, meeting Lord Black's level gaze across the desk. He got the feeling that today was one of the rare days when he had lost, but despite his experience, he couldn't see his way out of it. He had to have Harry in Hogwarts and under his control. It didn't help that there really wasn't much for him to complain about. The conditions were entirely reasonable for someone in Harry's position and by far the first requests that he had dealt with as a headmaster. Draco Malfoy's father, for example, had used his post as a Hogwarts governor to make sure that Draco received a large case of hair products each month, and received 'cloak-billowing' and 'sneering' lessons from Professor Snape for whatever use they might be. He sighed and nodded again.

"Good!" Exclaimed Arcturus, standing and extending a hand to Dumbledore who also stood and accepted the shake. He turned to Professor McGonagall and said much more warmly "Miss McGonagall, a pleasure as always." When she accepted his proffered hand, he pulled it to his lips and kissed the back again, and again McGonagall blushed. Sirius made retching noises, while the Hat wolf-whistled from the corner.

/

"So what did you bribe the Hat with?" Asked Remus, once they were outside the School's ward-schemes and Arcturus had cast a muffliato charm around them to stop any eavesdroppers from listening in. Harry grinned at the memory.

"Guess."

"A trio of Veela to bathe it while they frolic naked?" Offered Sirius.

"Not everyone... everything?" Began Arcturus, uncertain as to whether the Hat should be classified as an object or an individual, before deciding it didn't matter too much "whatever, is as depraved as yourself, dear grandson - not everything is about sex."

"Almost everything fun is though." Came the quick response "Speaking of sex though, what was with you in there?" Sirius asked, his curiosity had been itching at him as soon as he managed to swallow his nausea.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Arcturus kept his face carefully neutral. There was a silence as everyone gave him their best skeptical looks. "You look constipated." He said, spotting Harry's expression.

"I think" said Remus, chuckling away "that he was referring to your flirtations with Professor McGonagall." Arcturus, despite his efforts, felt his face colouring slightly.

"You thunk right, Moony old boy, that was exactly what I was referring to." Confirmed Sirius with a grin.

"Harry," Arcturus stopped and taking his adopted great-grandson by the shoulder, turned him towards the castle and handed him a pair of rune-engraved glasses normally used by professional ward breakers "tell me what you see."

Harry put on the glasses and looked up at the castle through the glasses, gasping at the sight. Surrounding the school, swirling in rainbow patterns, was the ward scheme that protected the grounds and students. Each colour denoted a different style of ward; the dark, throbbing red were few but showed the lethal protective wards; light blue showed defensive that absorbed the power of the spell cast against it and recycled it into the shield itself - though only up to a certain amount of course; the green ones countered threats with non-lethal curses and so on. The whole castle positively glowed, twisting and flowing like an oil-slick on water.

"Wow." The others donned similar glasses and looked up at the castle. Sirius whistled lowly in awe.

"Indeed." Said Arcturus dryly. "Now, what can you tell me about the wards?"

"Well," began Harry slowly "their focus is on defensive and non-lethal wards, with the majority made up of power recycling wards, a few potentially lethal ones, with notice-me-nots and disillusionment charms to deter the muggles."

"Good, now what about the anchor points?" Harry studied the wards for a moment more, trying to work out where the wards were tied to, normally indicated by centre of the swirling patterns.

"The towers?" He asked cautiously. "Seems a little rash as their an obvious target for bombardment should the wards fail and the castle come under attack."

Arcturus gave Harry a smile as the boy removed the ward glasses "Almost - the wards are tied to the foundations of the towers - that way if the towers fall, they're covered by the rubble and provided with additional protection. Provided, of course that the fall of the towers doesn't destroy the anchor stones, which are usually protected by further shields, structural and magical, and unbreakable runes that have been carved into it as well." Harry nodded in understanding as they turned back towards Hogsmead. "Now, how would you go about taking them down?" Harry looked up at him in confusion.

"Why would you want to take the wards of Hogwarts down?"

"Well you probably wouldn't, but this is a lesson, so how would you go about taking them down?"

Harry's face creased in concentration. "The problem with taking any ward structure down is what to do with the power that charges the wards." he began, quoting from _Basic Wards and How to Break Them_ by Gurrin Strikker. "So with a power level that high, you're going to need several power-sappers to take it. Probably at least twenty, if not more" Arcturus nodded in encouragement "then you'd need to take out the anchor points, which would probably require a heavy bombardment... though if you overloaded the sappers and placed them by the towers, you could time them to detonate next to the anchors and take them out." At this his guardians and tutor both raised their eyebrows, not having thought of this route themselves "Or muggle explosives would probably do it too." They all grinned at the memory of Terry Higgins' lesson on explosives.

"Correct!" Agreed Arcturus "And what is the importance of sappers in ward-breaking?"

"The magical power has to go somewhere" explained Harry "potentially, a small system with limited power can be absorbed and discharged by an individual, but this is always pretty dangerous as if the wards contain more power than the person can hold with their own magical core, or discharge immediately, then the excess magic will leave them at best magically burned out or at worst, dead. Sappers are used to absorb the magic at an amount that an individual can't hold, but much like anything, they can only hold so much, so you still need to be careful that they aren't overloaded as you may end up with a massive magical explosion."

Arcturus smiled down at him and accepted the glasses back, tucking them away in an inside pocket. "Here endeth today's lesson."

They walked on in a friendly silence for a while before Remus turned to the elder Black. "So what was that with you and McGonagall?" Everyone's ears were quickly tuned as they looked forward to Arcturus' explanation, while the man himself sighed exasperatedly.

"A lady wouldn't ask, a gentleman wouldn't tell."

"We aren't ladies," clarified a broadly grinning Sirius "and you, apparently, are no gentleman. Besides, she's what, forty years younger than you?" Arcturus glared at him.

"Thirty four, thank you very much."

"So you have met her before then." Pounced Harry as the Marauders cackled away.

Arcturus huffed and strode ahead of them towards the house that the Higgins Security Group occasionally rented in Hogsmead, ignoring their questions.

/

The Black Manor, the day before the journey to school.

"Harry, wake up." Harry cracked his eyes open blearily. He had gotten to sleep late the night before. The view he had of Victoria through her locket showed her as worrying over her race tomorrow, distracting herself by wondering how he was. He was glad that she was thinking of him without crying now, but he wished he could watch her tomorrow - He had loved watching her ride her horse around the paddock and had even joined her on a few occasions.

"Wazza?" He mumbled blearily to Sirius' shadowy form.

"Come on, get up." Harry groaned against another shake. "We've got something to do before you go to school and we have to go now." He pulled some clothes from Harry's cupboards and threw them towards the boy who was rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "I'll be downstairs, make sure you don't wake up Remus or Arcturus, they probably wouldn't approve of what we're off to do." And then he left the room.

Intrigued, and with his curiosity spurring him on, Harry dressed quickly and quietly, meeting his god-father in the corridor before they quietly crept down to the hallway.

"Are you going where I think you're going?" Came Arcturus' sharp enquiry from the kitchen doorway.

"Shit." Cursed Sirius, turning to see his grandfather with a mug of coffee in one hand and a newspaper in the other, no less imposing for the dressing gown and fluffy slippers he was wearing. "Ummm." He began, searching for an excuse. Arcturus just shrugged.

"You're leaving it a bit late, you should have taken him months ago." Sirius looked guilty at the admonition, while Harry was merely confused. Arcturus turned from them and began making his way up the stairs before stopping and turning back to Sirius "Try the family ones first, both families. If none of them work, as a last resort try some of the shops down Knockturn Alley, but be careful, most of them will stop working after a bit and all the shop keepers will charge at least double. You won't get one from the other shop without raising some alarms." A flicker of relief went across Sirius' face before he smiled and nodded. "You" Arcturus said addressing Harry, "try to keep him" he waved at a mildly offended Sirius "out of trouble."

Harry and Sirius just shrugged and turned for the door.

"So where are we going then?" Asked the young boy as they made their way down the short path to the street. Sirius grinned, side-along apparating them both.

An hour and a half later, Harry was stood in the Black vaults of Gringotts, trying out the collection of wands to very little success. After nearly an hour, he picked up the last one, an eight inch ash and unicorn hair wand that looked like it hadn't been touched in centuries. It gave a small farting noise and nothing else as he tried a simple lumos. Harry and Sirius both sighed, putting it back in it's case.

"Right," said Sirius, "let's try the Potter vaults."

They were not much luckier in there, and Harry decided that nothing gave him as good a match as his own, but they eventually settled on a ten inch yew and thestral hair that wasn't as powerful or refined as Harry's own, but would be more than adequate if he were unable to use his own holly and phoenix feather wand.

"Who is she?" He turned to Sirius, who guiltily dismissed his not so discretely cast tempus.

"What?"

"That's the third time you've checked the time since we got here and the only time you're worried about being late is when you're going on a date, and even then it's to make sure you're fashionably late but not so late that she leaves before you get there." Harry gave a sniff and wiped a mock tear from his eye. "Does my company bore you so? Are you looking forward to me being out of your life so you can finally live the bachelor life you always dreamed of?"

Sirius grinned at him and pulled him into a one armed hug, directing him towards the door and snatching Harry a spare wand holster on their way.

"Not at all pup, but we have an appointment to make." He paused for a moment. "Might be an idea to tell gramps that it took a little longer than we thought to find your wand and that we definitely didn't go where we're going next."

"Tell me."

"Nope, it's a surprise."

"At least let me apparate myself this time, it always feel like you're about to splinch me into yourself to get back your mis-spent youth."

"I know you can apparate, but no-one else does, and besides, the others would have my nuts in a vice if I let you - most people don't get their licence until they're seventeen. Also, I think some Dark Wizard tried that as a means of eternal youth back in the day. Doesn't work, so I shall have to continue living vicariously through you." Harry sighed inwardly and continued to beg for information as to where they were going.

Despite his godson's pleading, Sirius refused to divulge where they were heading next and by the time they left Gringotts, Harry was distinctly unimpressed with his godfather. As soon as they were clear of the wards, Sirius side-along apparated them again, this time arriving behind a long low building that smelled distinctly of mud and straw. Sirius cast the tempus again before cracking open a small door. He poked his head through and checked it was safe before dragging Harry through.

Once they were inside, Harry recognised it for a stables, easily assisted by the horses that whickered softly at their presence. He glanced around at the animals, wishing he could go riding with Victoria today, wondering how her competition had gone.

"We're going horse-riding?" He asked Sirius skeptically. The look he got in return suggested that Sirius thought he might already have been, fallen on his head and suffered irreparable brain damage.

"Wait here." Sirius pushed him into a shadowy corner and made his way to the open door at the far end. He peered out cautiously before ducking his head back in and quickly returned to Harry. "I am the best god-father ever." Harry gave him an amused look but didn't say anything "Say it." demanded Sirius.

"Why?" Sirius rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Just say it." And then Harry caught sight of the figure walking in the door, a small smile on her face as she talked softly to the horse she was leading. He went completely still and just stared.

"Vicky." He whispered softly as Sirius pouted.

"You didn't say it!" He whined petulantly but found himself unable to control his own smile as Harry approached his girlfriend. As he drifted out of the shadows, she saw him and they both froze, eyes locked, Harry's hand partly extended to her.

Sirius calmly strode forwards and gently took the reins for her horse from her, giving her a gentle nudge in the direction of his godson. "You don't have long. Best to make the most of it." He led the horse to it's stable and after removing it's saddle, began to brush it down. He gave up trying not to eavesdrop after about thirty seconds. The young couple were tearfully catching up on each other's summer activities, voices muffled slightly by their embrace, but Sirius could vaguely make out Harry's stories of preparing for his new school and Victoria's summer of equestrian events and mourning Isaac's death and Harry's absence with the rest of their friends.

After over an hour of painfully slow brushing and finding himself explaining what was going on to the horse, Sirius decided that it was time they began heading back. It was unlikely that Bellatrix or Wormtail were watching if they hadn't already tried to strike, but there was no point in tempting fate, and soon Victoria's parents would be coming looking for her any way.

He poked his head from the stable and smiled at the sight. Harry and Victoria were sat on a hay bale leaning against the wall, cuddled close in together, snippets of conversation drifting across the stable to him. Sirius pulled his head back in.

"Harry," he called softly from the inside of the stable "I hate to break you guys up, but we need to be going." The two disentangled themselves from each other as they stood up, still holding hands. Harry looked beseechingly at his godfather, who nodded and headed past them towards the small door they had entered by. "I'll give you a couple of minutes to say goodbye." Victoria smiled her thanks at him and pulled Harry into a hug, tilting her face up towards him for a kiss.

When he pulled back, he noticed tears tracking down her cheeks and gently wiped them away with his thumb "Hey there, no need to cry." he smiled down at her. She gave him a watery chuckle and reached up to wipe his cheeks as well.

"You're a one to talk." Harry tried to turn the sob into a choked laugh as well and wrapped his arms around her again, burying her face in his chest and breathing in her scent.

"I missed you." Whispered Harry into her hair.

"I missed you too." She pushed away from him slightly and looked up into bright green eyes sparkling with unshed tears. "I know you don't want to say it, and I know we're young" he stiffened ever so slightly and she smiled sadly up at him "don't worry - I'm not going to say it first." He relaxed a fraction and her smile became more genuine. "I just want you to know that I do." Harry smiled and pulled her back into a hug.

"Harry, time to go buddy." Sirius called apologetically from the door.

"I do too." Whispered Harry into her ear, giving her a final kiss before turning for the door.

"Wait!" Victoria called after him. Harry turned back from the door, the pain at leaving clear on his face. "Will... will I see you again?" She asked hopefully. Harry turned to Sirius his silent, desperate pleading clear on his face. Sirius winked back at them both.

"Probably." He pulled Harry with him through the door and closed it behind them before quickly disapparating with a small pop before Harry could rush back in.

Back in the stable, Victoria ran to the door and pulled it open, staring around confused when she couldn't see them before heading resignedly back to check on her horse.

/

By the time Sirius and Harry got back to Hogsmead, it was nearly lunch time. They walked in to the bustle of activity. Five of the mercenaries from the Higgins Security Group were unloading various pieces of equipment, ranging from a variety of muggle weapons to the older instruments of war preferred by the magical members of the group. Since they had first been recruited the summer before, the twenty four HSG soldiers had become almost like another branch of the family. Occasionally a few of them would disappear for a week or more on missions that kept their reputation alive and their coffers full, but for the most part they had involved themselves in the family, providing rolling security around the clock. Several of them had also eagerly involved themselves in Harry's training, imparting knowledge both magical and muggle that the boy soaked up like a sponge, with many of them treating him as a younger brother or cousin, encouraged by the familial nature of the HSG and the relationship that the Higgins brothers had developed with the odd ball Black family.

"Is that a glaive?!" Sirius' eyes were bugging out at the huge blade one of the mercenaries was holding. The soldier, a nearly seven foot tall Swedish magician named Olaf, had shaved the sides of his head and grown the top long conforming as closely as possible to a style reminiscent of Viking soldiers, grinned and twirled it expertly before proffering the weapon for Harry and Sirius' inspection. The metal of the blade was scored with expertly carved runes which Olaf proudly pointed out.

"You know these?" He began in a voice much softer than one would expect from a man of his size. Harry nodded. Olaf had proven to be very knowledgeable on runes and had enjoyed imparting his expertise to Harry. Though he had learned the basics in runic law that were covered in most classes, the large Swede had been able to show him some much more inventive rune schemes, that were both offensive and defensive, almost all of them violent in nature.

"Ever-sharp," he began with the marks on the edge eagerly before leaning in to look closer. The mercenary quickly pulled the blade back.

"Careful!" he cautioned before motioning Harry to continue. "Very dangerous." Harry nodded again in acknowledgement, cautiously examining the blade and studiously avoiding the cutting edge and the tip.

"I don't know about those ones, but... sickness?" He looked up quizzically. Olaf grinned back at him.

"Any cut that doesn't kill gets infected, and that kills instead. Slowly." Harry felt a little nauseous at the thought of a magically septic wound that would get you even if the man wielding the weapon didn't. He pointed at a string of much smaller runes that wove along the edge of the blade from the hilt, intertwining with the ever-sharp and infection runes before culminating into another, more familiar one at the tip.

"And... are those a charging rune? It looks different."

"Is different" clarified the Swede "it is a draining rune - blood on the blade draws magic from the person cut, channels it into the..."

"Blasting rune at the tip." Interrupted Harry. Olaf nodded again. "Wow, that's cool!"

"Yes." agreed the weapons' owner. "Very cool also very dangerous." Olaf said added seriously. He rolled the weapon so that Harry could see the top side of the glaive. "This one?"

"Unbreakable rune." Harry replied instantly.

"Good." He turned to Sirius who was also watching with interest and nodded at Harry. "Smart boy."

"The very best." Replied Sirius proudly, prompting Harry to blush slightly at the praise. He grinned and seeing Remus and Arcturus through the doorway to the kitchen, decided that it was time to repay his godfather for his surprise earlier and raised his voice.

"It's pretty easy to be clever when you have the best godfather there has ever been."

Lord Black and Remus both stuck their heads around the corner, staring suspiciously between the two of them. Olaf looked on amused, knowing that he had missed something but enjoying the by-play between the four of them.

"What did you do?" Harry and Sirius just plastered equally innocent expressions across their faces.

"Nothing!" Came Sirius' protest.

"Nope" agreed Harry "I just thought that I don't express my gratitude for what Sirius has done for me enough." He turned to Sirius and said as formally as he could. "Sirius," his godfather adopted an equally semi-serious expression, the amusement clear in his eyes "I want to say thank you for everything you have done for me. Ever. I know it hasn't always been easy, but I am, and always will be, eternally grateful." Sirius broke first and grinned.

"No worries pup." Arcturus and Remus tried to establish what had gone on between the two before giving it up as a lost cause.

"Hmmm" Arcturus clearly didn't believe a word they said towards their innocence and managed to convey his disapproval in the single sound. "Well now you're back, we can talk about getting you to Hogwarts tomorrow." Harry gave him a confused look as they settled themselves into the comfy chairs around the coffee table.

"It's like, two miles that way" he waved his hand in the direction of the castle. "I figured I'd walk." Arcturus shrugged noncommittally.

"You can if you like, though it's worth giving the train some thought. I know Miss Granger and Mr Longbottom will be getting the train in and it would also give you an opportunity to meet some of the other students before school started." Harry gave it some thought before nodding slowly. Sirius and Remus looked at each other and grinned at their own memories of the Hogwarts Express.

"There's also a few opportunities for pranks before you find yourself under the watchful eyes of the teachers." His godfather pointed out with a wink. Remus and Arcturus rolled their eyes at the member of the Black family that was often considered the least mature, but were smiling none-the-less.

"Indeed." Arcturus noted dryly. "More importantly though, is what you should do when you get to the school." The three adults looked suddenly sombre, while Harry just looked confused. "When you start your classes, as was noted by the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall, you will come to appreciate just how far ahead you are." He paused for a moment, considering how to word what would come next. "It is probably in your best interests to hide this as much as possible - I'm not talking about deliberately failing anything," he stalled Harry's protests with a placating hand "but certainly when it comes to defensive and offensive magic, it is a good idea not to let them know that you have already covered more than many of them will before they leave school, if ever." Harry nodded again.

"That makes sense I guess." Arcturus nodded in approval

"Good. It is also worth remembering" he continued, "that you are in school. There shouldn't be anything there that can hurt you, so you shouldn't need to blow your cover. If you do, then of course do whatever you have to to defend yourself and then immediately come to one of us, or call us using the watch." Harry nodded his head again.

"What about the rest of my lessons?" He asked "Will I still be learning from Sam and Mr Smith?"

"Yes." Confirmed Remus, pushing across a sheet of parchment with a list of the extra classes that Harry would be taking on top of the Hogwarts curriculum. "Your potions classes with Arcturus will take place during the time-tabled slots when the rest of your year is with the grease-ball, the rest we will work around your free periods, so you need to send us your timetable as soon as you have it."

"Will do," confirmed Harry "what about the muggle stuff?"

"That's where I come in." Said Fiona, making her entrance from the hallway with a mug of tea in her hand and plonking herself on the sofa next to Remus and cuddling into his side. "I've taken a sabbatical from Westminster, so I'll have plenty of free time. Any weekends and holidays you're back, we'll try to cover as much as possible." Sirius rolled his eyes at Harry, who grinned back. Despite herself, Fiona smiled as well. "It wont be as bad as it sounds." Sirius snorted skeptically and earned himself a punch in the arm from Fiona. "It wont be! We aren't working to the curriculum, so we can just focus on the interesting stuff... Oh I give up!" She sighed exasperatedly as Harry began mock snoring loudly, before he and Sirius both descended into giggles.

Arcturus shrugged his apologies at her and decided it was time to step in and interrupt. "So it's decided then?"

"What?" Asked Harry.

"Getting to school? The train? Not showing off your skills too much?" Tried Remus.

"Oh, that. Yep, all set." Nodded Harry cheerfully. "And I'll send you my timetable as soon as I have it so you can take up all the spare time I have with making sure I'm ahead for the next few years until I can leave."

"That sounds about right." Arcturus agreed. "Now, who's ready for lunch?"

_Well, there's another one down, I hope you enjoyed it. As always, please read and review and if you have any particular thoughts as to where you would like characters to go, by all means send them across. Next chapter will see the introduction of the Weasleys and the return of Draco and his goons, also this year's DADA professor and should be up soon-ish._

_YA_

_Notsoancientmariner_


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N As promised, another chapter. _

_Just a quick comment for anyone who was wondering about my portrayal of Neville as markedly different from canon - this is down to him having his parents around to raise him and Madame Longbottom not having such an influence. He's still going to be mostly the same, struggling with magic and nervous/quiet around everyone he's not comfortable with i.e. anyone other than Harry and Hermione at present, though this will change as this moves on._

_Personal replies to follow to the latest reviews, but for the rest of you... No definite final pairing for Harry as yet, though I have an idea or two... The other comments from Jamnaz 79 about the Weasleys should mostly be answered with this chapter, and on Cochrd's mention on running jokes: if anyone has a suggestion for if/how/when Hermione should finally swear, I'm more than willing to listen and credit will be given where it's due._

_Speaking of which, props to The Reader and Writer for his suggestion on the double barrelled surname._

_/_

Harry stood with Fiona, Remus, Sirius and Arcturus, watching the crowds on Platform 9 and 3/4s ebb and flow, tearful goodbyes from a few of those not wanting looking forward to being away from home juxtaposed with the happy reunion between friends who hadn't seen each other for the summer. Harry tried to spot the ones who were fakes and though he thought he saw one or two, he couldn't be certain. Some of the Higgins Security Group team members had taken polyjuice to blend in with the crowds, some of them become prospective students, others the parents - Dumbledore had agreed to their demands on Harry's schooling but flat out refused to allow any of the students to have personal security details on either the train or in the grounds. He had, however, consented to asking Minister Fudge to assign two Aurors to guard the students on their way to the school who were now ensconced in the guard's carriage, starting their second cup of tea and having absolutely no intention of doing anything for the journey.

"Well." Began Harry awkwardly, searching for a way to say goodbye.

"Have you got everything?" Asked Fiona.

"Yep." Confirmed Harry. "Besides, you guys are just down in the village, so if I've forgotten anything I can always grab it on the first Hogsmeade weekend or Arcturus could bring it up for my potions lessons."

"That's true," agreed Arcturus "but I would encourage you to spend as much time as possible with your school friends on those weekends, when we haven't scheduled extra classes for you of course."

"Of course." Harry's dry tone made them all smile, except Sirius, who was looking rather distracted and giving Harry some very odd looks.

"I also have no intention of being your pack mule." Harry grinned and then looked towards the train as the first students began to board. He turned back to the others and took a deep breath. "I guess it's time to say goodbye then." He gave Fiona a hug and she slipped a carefully wrapped book shaped package into his hands.

"I think you might like this one," she said with a smile "Remus helped me to choose it." Harry thanked her and grinned at Remus, hugging him as well.

"Catch you soon, pup." He ruffled Harry's hair affectionately and Harry swiped at his hand with a grin. "Don't let up on your defence training either, you still owe me a re-match."

"Only because you're a sore loser." The response came with a friendly smirk.

"No," corrected Remus "it's because you cheat even more than Sirius does." Harry rolled his eyes and turned to Arcturus. Despite the fact that he had become a central member of their odd family, he had retained a level of aristocratic disdain for expressing his affection in public, and so Harry held out his hand. His great-grandfather shook it formally, eyes dancing with amusement as he firmly shook Harry's hand.

"Do try to avoid getting in to as much trouble as your godfather did."

"No promises." Arcturus smiled despite himself.

"Just do me a favour and send back anything the others gave you that's too dangerous." Despite Arcturus' cautions and repeated comments that Harry was going to a school and not a war zone, several of the HSG mercenaries had given Harry gifts before he left that were distinctly unsuitable for a boy of just thirteen, and he had no doubt that some of them would have snuck one or two extra presents in as well when he wasn't watching.

Lastly, Harry turned to Sirius, who was shifting uncomfortably. They stood and stared at each other for a moment.

"Well." Began Harry.

"Well." Agreed Sirius. Harry sighed, sadly.

"Well." Sirius gave a soft sniff.

"Well." He agreed.

"Oh for goodness sake." Huffed Fiona, as they pulled each other into a hug.

She could barely hear Harry's muffled "You're such a pussy." But she could have sworn it was slightly thicker with emotion than Harry's voice was normally. Maybe it was just that he was speaking into Sirius' chest.

"You started it pup." Muttered Sirius to the top of his godson's head. He carefully slipped a letter into Harry's pocket that he would find later on, before they extracted themselves from their embrace. Harry grinned up at him and he smiled back down.

"Well." Said Harry, much more cheerfully.

"Well." Agreed Sirius with a nod.

"Oh just get on the fucking train would you?" Said Remus with a smile, earning himself a reproachful look from Fiona.

With a grin and a wave, Harry turned and began walking towards the train, clicking his fingers at his trunk. With a shudder, a dozen small legs on either side kicked out and lifted the trunk off the floor, ready to walk by its owner's side. It had been one of Arcturus' gifts to Harry, having been the travelling trunk of a many-greats uncle that had been gathering dust since the last Black children went to school.

The first few compartments Harry looked into were already taken, groups of students chatting away about their summer. Eventually he found one with only one person in it, a nervous looking boy with short, dark hair, fiddling dejectedly with a disk-man and headphones. He glanced up at he as he knocked and Harry gave his best friendly smile.

"Mind if I join you?" The boy nodded before returning his attention to the disk-man. Harry whistled once to his case and, after flexing its many legs a couple of times, it sprang onto the shelf above the opposite seat with a loud thump before the legs retracted into the case. The boy's eyes widened in amazement before slowly returning to his disk-man. He stabbed at a couple of the buttons and then sighed in frustration, face crumpling miserably as he stared out of the window at the thinning crowds on the platform. "It wont work." Harry said after a minute or two. The other boy looked up at him and a blush coloured his face even as it twisted into a scowl. "It's the magic" Harry said helpfully "it interferes with the electronics."

"Oh." The boy said quietly, the anger fading back to misery.

"I'm Harry Black-Potter."

"Daniel Skeens."

"A pleasure. Would you like me to have a look at that?" He asked, holding his hand out for the disk-man. He gave him a suspicious look and Harry tried to smile reassuringly. "I might be able to get it working." Daniel hesitated before handing it over. He popped it open and removed the CD which he handed back to him before standing on the seat and reaching up to open one of the draws of his chest, rifling through it to find the book he was looking for.

"There you are!" He glanced over to see Hermione's smiling face beneath her bushy hair. She directed a cheerful "Hello!" to Daniel who gave a little wave that Hermione smiled at as she turned back to Harry "We've been looking everywhere for you, what are you doing? Mind if we join you?" He grinned at Hermione before winking at Neville, who was following behind her.

"Yep, well now you've found me, fixing a disk-man so it works around magic, Daniel was here first so you have to ask him." Neville grinned back as Hermione worked her way through the answers. She turned towards Daniel, who gave a nod and another nervous smile. Harry flicked through the pages of the book before finding the page he was looking for. "Got it!" He rummaged again and pulled out a pencil.

"Wait!" Cried Daniel, reaching to snatch his CD-player back from this strange boy who looked like he was about to doodle all over it. Harry glanced up, shock giving way to a guilty look that flashed across his face.

"Oh. Um... Sorry." Hermione was now sat next to him, watching him curiously, while Neville had adopted a put-upon expression and began man-handling both their cases onto the shelves as Harry showed the title of the book to their young travelling companion: _Wards, Runes and How to Use Them_. "So the magic interferes with the electronic signals, happy?" His audience nodded at him "This series of runes here that absorbs magic - ward breakers use it to sap the magic of a ward-scheme, usually carving into metal or rock or something similarly solid that can hold a lot of magic." He showed them the page he had marked open as they nodded their understanding. "What I'm going to do, if you're happy" he said to Daniel "is change the rune slightly, pairing it with this one," Harry flipped open to another page "which is reflective. Paired together, they give a magic repelling rune which should mean that your CD-player works properly."

"Should." Said Hermione skeptically. Harry nodded.

"Should." He shrugged apologetically to Daniel. "It might not do anything, but it's the only thing I can think of short of making a Disk-Man out of moon rock."

"Moon rock?" Interrupted Hermione "And exactly how do you know about runes and ward breaking?

"Yeah, magic doesn't work on it," Harry said absently, ignoring Hermione's shocked expression at this revelation and her second question "unfortunately" he added with a grin "I don't think Sony are quite there yet." Daniel gave a very small laugh at the bad joke. "Do you mind if I give it a shot?" The boy nodded and watched intently as Harry carefully began to stencil on the designs to the disk-man. As soon as the pencil marks were completed, he put the took the disk back from Daniel, carefully placing it in and closing the case before pressing play, holding one earphone to his ear to check it was working. After a moment he grinned and pressed stop. "So that works, now I'll ink it in so that it doesn't smudge - and don't worry, I'll use a clear ink so you wont even notice it's there. Unless you have a favourite colour you'd prefer it in?"

"Umm... do you have blue?"

Harry rummaged in the chest drawer again before coming up empty. "Sadly no, I don't have a blue. Would green work?"

"'s fine." Daniel replied in a quiet voice. Harry fished out the green ink.

"Nail varnish?" Came Neville's bemused question as he sat down next to Daniel, having finally finished with the cases. Harry shrugged.

"Don't knock it if it works. Small brushes and a bitch to get off, just what you want for rune carving."

"Stop!" Hermione interrupted Harry, before slapping Neville lightly on the shoulder "Grab my case for me?" He glared back at her.

"I'd only just gotten it up." Neville complained. Harry snorted in amusement.

"Phrasing!" Hermione got it fastest and blushed furiously, her jaw dropping in horror at the connotations. Neville was next and sniggered, while Daniel just looked between them all.

"I don't get it." He said.

"Ignore them, they're being childish." Said Hermione as she huffed at Neville and Harry's laughter, standing on the seat to hide her blush as she rummaged in the drawers of her trunk.

"She's right," said Harry to Daniel "we are being incredibly childish. Probably because we're thirteen year old boys and we have a right to be."

"Got it!" Hermione sat down with a smallish sponge bag and extracted a small bottle of sky blue nail gloss that she handed to Harry.

"Why do you have blue nail varnish?" Asked Neville, confused. Hermione gave him a look that would have done just as well for someone who had asked her if she would like to eat a newborn child for lunch and if so, how would she like it cooked?

"Because I'm a girl." She explained very slowly "Girls have nail varnish. I like the colour. Does that make sense, you imbecile?"

"Alright, alright, I'm not an idiot." Hermione huffed at Neville's statement before turning to watch Harry at work. Just as he finished and handed the disk-man back to its owner, the whistle sounded and the train jolted into motion. Daniel tried it out and grinned as the tinny sound of music could be heard from his headphones.

"Thanks."

"My pleasure" replied Harry sincerely "I'm new to Hogwarts too, so I know how scary a new school can be. It's nice to have something that reminds us of home." The others gave Daniel friendly smiles and nodded.

"But you're... you're not a first year."

"Nope" grinned Harry, "I'm a transfer, I was at a muggle school 'till the end of last summer" only Hermione caught the slight flicker of emotion as Harry's smile began to look a little forced "you might call me a late bloomer."

"Oh" said Daniel "Does that mean you'll be in the same year as me?" He looked a little nervous at this prospect, having seen Harry apply the runes and not having the faintest clue about what magic could do, let alone how to use it.

"'fraid not, Danny-boy" replied Harry cheerily "I had private tuition to get me up to the level of the other kids my age. But don't worry, we'll see each other around - we might even be in the same house." The younger boy brightened at this prospect.

"Hang on a minute," interrupted Hermione, a predatory gleam in her eye, "you still haven't told us what house you're in. Or how you know about runes and ward-breaking, it's not even taught at Hogwarts until third year. That's us, by the way." she added for Daniel's sake, waving at herself, Neville and Harry.

"Haven't I?" Asked Harry innocently.

"Nope." Replied Neville with a smile, suspecting that he knew where this was heading.

"Oh." Harry let the silence drag on, a placid smile on his face, watching Hermione get increasingly frustrated, Neville's own curiosity was tempered by his amusement at Hermione's irritation. "Would you like to know?"

"Yes." Snapped Hermione, not seeing the funny side of it. Harry rolled his eyes at Daniel, whose smirk rapidly disappeared when Hermione directed her glare his way.

Harry's reply was cut off as the door slid open again, a red-headed and be-freckled boy and a younger girl, equally red-headed and equally freckled and clearly his sister, stood there. Without waiting for an invitation, the boy heaved his trunk onto the rack above their heads and with a "Shove over" directed at Daniel, plonked himself next to Neville.

"Who are you?" He asked Harry. Harry stared back at him levelly, wondering if he should make an enemy this early on in the term. The red-headed girl pushed her trunk under the seat that Harry and Hermione were on and smiled at him as she sat down.

"Please excuse my brother..."

"Don't make excuses for me!" She ignored his interruption and waved at him to be quiet.

"I'm Ginny, that's Ron. He might be the older one, but I'm smarter" She held out her hand and Harry smiled, liking the insult to the reddening older brother.

"Better looking too." She blushed slightly at the compliment, and Ron made as if to stand, before being stopped by Neville.

"Hey now, I don't know who you think you are..." Harry ignored the big-brother-blustering and kept his focus on Ginny. He didn't find red-heads particularly attractive in general and besides, he had Victoria, but he decided that he'd be willing to flirt to wind up Ron.

"Harry Black-Potter, a pleasure to meet you, Miss Ginny." The girls eyes widened and she froze, still holding his hand. Harry made to let go but hers was frozen in shock around his own. Her brother's eyes widened and his jaw dropped open at the introduction. After a moment, Harry reached forwards with his spare hand and gently extracted his other from Ginny's grasp. "Was it something I said?" He asked Hermione. "Please shut your mouth" he added to Ron "you look like an oik."

Neville glanced at his watch. "Less than ten minutes, I win." He said to Hermione.

"Doesn't count," she replied, "it wasn't to me." Neville glared back at her.

"We never said it had to be to you, just that he'd say it." Harry looked between the two of them, his eyes narrowing accusingly. Daniel just looked confused, while Ginny was still frozen, staring at Harry, and Ron's mouth was still open.

"You guys made a bet on me." Harry asked, wondering if he should be offended. Neville nodded, completely unashamed.

"It's what friends do?" Tried Hermione by way of excuse. Harry shrugged and then frowned at Ron. He sighed.

"Do you mind?" He asked Neville, who glanced at Ron and with a grin, pushed the other boy's mouth closed. Ron shook his head to clear it and then continued staring at Harry.

"You're Harry Potter?" He asked incredulously.

"Nope," corrected Harry "I'm Harry Black-Potter."

"Eep." Came the small noise from Ginny.

"Oh please tell me that not every girl at this school has some sort of speech defect." Groaned Harry.

"What do you mean?" Asked Daniel, who had been quiet for some time.

"She can't swear," he explained, pointing at Hermione "it's fucking tragic really, she tries but it just comes out in an odd sort of stutter where any profanity should be. And apparently she" he waved at Ginny "has used her quota of words for the day and has resorted to non-sensical noises." Daniel looked between the two of them nervously as if it might be contagious.

"Eep." Said Ginny.

"Just because I choose not to swear, doesn't mean I can't!" Protested Hermione.

"Fine" said Harry "just give us a 'shit', 'fuck', or 'bollocks'. Hell, even a 'flip' or a 'damn', and we'll believe that you can swear." He folded his arms and leant back against the window, waiting for Hermione. She glared at him as everyone else watched, holding their breath in anticipation.

"I am not going to stoop to your level." She growled out through gritted teeth.

Harry shrugged and turned to Neville "Worth a shot."

"Two years and I've never heard her swear." Commented Neville.

"Ten sickles says I manage to get her to swear by the end of the year." Challenged Harry.

"Hey!" Cried Hermione, just as Neville said "Deal" and stuck his hand out to shake on it.

"What?" Asked Harry "You guys bet on me - it's what friends do, remember?" She glared at him and he grinned back. He could see that winding Hermione up would be an entertaining past-time for this year, and it might even make it easier to win his bet with Neville. "How about you, Daniel, can you swear?" The younger boy nodded.

"Yep."

"Don't - " Hermione tried to stop it but was cut off by the younger lad's next word.

"Fuck. See?" He grinned at Harry, who was rapidly becoming his new hero. Harry nodded approvingly.

"At least you seem to be ok."

"Wait just a minute!" Interrupted Ron. "You're Harry Potter."

"No."

"What?"

"I already told you, my name is Harry Black-Potter." Harry's opinion of Ron had not been particularly high to start with his rude entry to the carriage and his continuing lack of manners. "It's hyphenated." He added helpfully. It didn't seem to be much assistance however as Ron was still looking confused. "That means it's joined together."

"But you were born Harry Potter." Now Harry was starting to get annoyed.

"Yes, and then I was adopted by Sirius Black, and now I'm Harry Black-Potter. It's really not that difficult to understand." As Harry tried to explain this to Ron, his younger sister had tugged at Hermione's sleeve and was now whispering in her ear. Harry directed his attention towards the girls. "You do realise that whispering is incredibly rude, don't you?"

Hermione glared back at him. "She's intimidated by you, you plank. Not everyone survives a killing curse as a baby you know."

"Killing curse, shmilling shmurse." He said dismissively "There's no need to be literally gob-smacked by my presence. Though I am pretty fantastic." He brushed off a non-existent speck of lint from his tee-shirt.

Hermione sighed, before explaining. "You've been relatively isolated from the wizarding world for the last decade or so, so perhaps you should know that a certain 'cult of the personality' has grown up around you. And I realise this will probably just inflate your not-inconsiderable ego already, but various books have been written about you in that time, most of which involve you going on ridiculous adventures and are directed almost exclusively towards young girls. Hence... this." She waved at Ginny.

"Eep." Said Ginny.

Harry had to admit that he felt a little uncomfortable at the idea, but was quickly distracted by the possibilities that early fame offered for later in life. He would just have to pray that he didn't burn out like Macaulay Culkin. His day dreams of rising to the top echelons of wizarding society on the shoulders of adoring fan girls were interrupted by the appearance of his favourite student at Hogwarts.

"I see you've made yourself at home amongst blood-traitors and mud-bloods." The sneering voice came from the doorway. Harry looked up at Draco and his two goons stood in the corridor and staring in at them.

"Ladies and gentlemen" said Harry quickly before anyone else could react, standing and stepping to the doorway "proof that breeding exclusively amongst pure-blood families reduces the gene pool and leaves you dumb" he pointed at Crabbe, or possible Goyle, "ugly" he pointed at Goyle, or possible Crabbe, "or both." He pointed at Draco. "Now do be a good chap and fuck off." He directed his last comment to a stunned Draco Malfoy, who found himself uncertain as to how to proceed when faced with anything other than students cowering in terror before him, and Harry slammed the compartment door shut in his face, casting a locking charm on it before sitting back down.

There was a shocked silence as the occupants of the carriage looked between Harry and Draco, who was now mouthing threats through the glass of the door. Harry smirked at them and reached up to pull the blind down, blocking the view into their compartment.

"You... um..." Hermione began awkwardly "might not have wanted to do that." There was a silence in the carriage, Harry and Daniel looking curious, everyone else wishing that they had been somewhere else and feeling a little guilty for it.

"OK... Why not?" Asked Harry, failing to see why he shouldn't have put the arrogant pure-blood in his place. Granted, he probably could have been a bit more diplomatic, but then he had never been particularly fond of bullies, which is what Draco was rapidly proving himself to be. Hermione shifted awkwardly in her seat.

"Well, he's a Slytherin." She said, as if that explained everything.

"So?" Asked Daniel, not really understanding the different houses.

"They basically run the school, win the School Cup most years, go on to get the best jobs, etc etc, and while they're doing that, they also manage to get away with bullying and intimidating the rest of the school with little to no opposition." Explained Neville, providing a little more detail. He shrugged, a little embarrassed at Harry's incredulous look. "And Draco basically has them all under his control as he has the richest and most influential father."

"Oh." Said Harry thoughtfully. Daniel gulped nervously, wondering just what it was he had gotten into by welcoming Harry into his train compartment. "Well, we'll have to see what we can do about that." He smiled serenely back at the incredulous stares he was getting from everyone.

"About Draco's father being one of the most powerful and richest wizards in Britain, or about Slytherins being all... Slytherin-y." Asked Ginny, finally finding her voice. Harry considered this for a moment before reaching a decision with a firm nod.

"Both." The stares continued.

"Huh." Ginny's sound, though small and completely lacking words, seemed to adequately convey everyone's feelings of morbid curiosity at exactly how Harry intended to go about this, mixed with a modicum of hope that he would be successful.

As the train made its way North, Harry and the other occupants of the carriage chatted away about Hogwarts, Daniel taking every opportunity to quiz them about the school and the magical world in general and in the end decide that, regardless of the fall-out from the interaction with Draco Malfoy and his henchmen, he was glad that it was Harry Black-Potter of all people had come to share his compartment. Even Ginny seemed to have gotten over the initial shock of sharing space her childhood hero, though it took much longer for Ron to get his head around Harry's name. Eventually, they started to pull on their school robes, boys and girls taking it in turns to stand out in the corridor while the other changed and Hermione's question about which House Harry was going to be in was finally answered as he revealed his red and gold edged robes and Gryffindor tie. By the time they had finished, the train was slowing and once again Harry clicked his fingers, his chest's little legs popping out and jumping off the shelf to follow him onto the platform while he helped Daniel and the girls with their cases.

"Alrigh' firs' years! Over this way!" The booming voice came from the far end of the station. "Alrigh' Harry!" The half-giant grinned and waved at Harry, who grinned and waved back.

"See you in the castle Hagrid!" He called as he made his way towards the coaches.

"How do you know Hagrid?" Asked Hermione, her curiosity getting the better of her again, no matter how many infuriating non-answers Harry gave her previous questions.

"Every one knows Hagrid." Countered Harry, offering his hand to help her into the carriage. She glared at him and made her way up without his help. Ginny, however, accepted with a furious blushing and a smile all while Ron glared at the two of them and everyone else wondered who the new guy was.

Desperate to change the subject to something that Harry wouldn't be able to irritate her over, Hermione turned to Neville.

"So do you have any idea who the new DADA professor is?"

"Umm..." the other boy began evasively, "I have a vague theory." He turned to stare out of the window, avoiding any further questions and completely missing Hermione's glare, which she promptly turned on Harry, who shrugged and gave an innocent smile.

Hermione Granger didn't swear, ever. But if she did, she would have been thinking _For flip's sake, now both of them are flipping doing it!_

When they reached the castle, they all filed in, Harry taking a seat with a good view of the staff table next to Neville and opposite Hermione and Ginny, who every now and again would glance at Harry and blush. He ignored this, much as he ignored the curious glances he was getting from his new house mates right up until two red-headed twins sat down, one next to him and one next to Ginny. He eyed them cautiously.

"Hello." He tried warily.

"Hello." They replied in creepy unison, faces grim as they stared at him, then at Ginny and then back at him. There was an awkward silence that was broken by Neville's nervous introduction.

"Harry, meet the twins, Fred and George Weasley. Fred, George, meet Harry Black-Potter."

"How do you know I'm Fred?" Asked one of the twins. "More to the point, how do you know he's not Fred?"

"Does it matter?" Asked Hermione with a weary sigh. Apparently both twins took offence to that, staring at each other in horror and then back to Hermione.

"How dare you?!" Asked the one next to Ginny.

"We are each our own unique individual!" They both cried in unison, before glaring at each other. "We have our own minds." They said together and glared at each other again. "Stop it." Again they echoed each other. "It's my turn to talk." They both insisted, and Harry's amusement increased as the odd argument continued.

"You're right," he said to Hermione "I don't think it matters that much." Unfortunately his observation reminded the twins of their initial mission and just as they turned their attention back to Harry, the Headmaster rose, clapping his hands to call attention.

Dumbledore gazed out across the packed hall, eyes twinkling away as he surveyed the fresh faces before him, eager minds ready to learn and, hopefully, be guided along the right path. It might have been Harry's imagination, but he was certain the gaze lingered a little on him.

"Welcome back, one and all, I hope you have had a restful summer. Once again, we are within these hallowed halls to start a fresh term. Before this, however, bring in the First Years!" He called the last line out just as the doors opened and a troop of very nervous looking students entered under McGonagall's gaze. Dumbledore smiled at them all and then signalled to one side, prompting Argus Filch to scuttle forward with the Sorting Hat on a stool. "Now, as is tradition, our new students will be sorted into the houses they will call their own for the next few years and our very own Sorting Hat will now introduce itself."

Having met the Hat on a one to one basis, Harry's only thought was _W__ell, this should be interesting_.

The Hat let out a 'ahem' clearing whatever it used for a throat before beginning.

"You are all here for a sorting,  
On this you have been waiting,  
Until this very day  
Stick my body upon your head,  
Empty your minds of dread,  
No secrets am I looking for,  
I'm only on a tour.  
Looking for the real you:  
Eager for learning and studious  
Or brave and courageous  
Love of honour and companionship  
Devious and ambitious  
For each of you I have a home  
Out of four I must pick,  
Our meeting will be quick  
Let us begin and soon we'll know, just where you I will stick."

"Huh" said Hermione.

"What?" Asked Neville. She shrugged.

"It's just that was a lot shorter than usual, I was expecting something... more."

"Yeah," agreed one of the twins "the rhymes just seemed..."

"... a bit below par?" Suggested the other twin.

The first one shrugged and raised a hand before him, wobbling it from side to side. "I was going to say 'shit', but below par also works."

"I think you have it, dear brother" Conceded the second "Shit it was. Let us not call it anything but." Hermione rolled her eyes in exasperation.

Harry, meanwhile, was moving his lips and twitching his finger every now and again while staring at the Hat. Eventually he stopped and smirked at the others.

"What?" Asked Hermione, narrowing her eyes at him. Everyone else turned to look at him as Thomas Andrews walked forwards to take his seat on the stool and place the Hat on his head. Harry politely clapped as he was sorted into Ravenclaw.

"It was a message." He said cryptically. Everyone began to look confused and stared around them to see if anyone else had picked up on it, with the exception of the twin sat next to Ginny, who had shut his eyes and was now mumbling the Hat's song back to himself. "Take the first letter of each line." The twin got to the end of the song and stared at Harry, disbelief clear on his face. He slowly turned round to look at the teacher's table. The others followed his gaze, remaining non-plussed as nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"No way." Whispered the twin who had figured it out. Harry grinned and nodded, clapping again as Susan Bardelle was sorted into Gryffindor. The rest of their group followed his lead and gave some absent-minded applause as the Sorting continued.

"What?" Asked the other twin, who hadn't caught on.

"The Hat just called Dumbledore..." he nodded at the twin in the know.

"A senile old fool." Hermione gasped aloud and the rest of their small group looked equally surprised. "George." Added the twin reaching over to shake Harry's hand "Fred" he said, pointing at the twin on Harry's side of the table.

"What?" Asked his brother, a little miffed that they hadn't continued their song and dance while everyone tried to work out which one of them was which, but more hurt that his brother had finished someone else's sentence.

"The Hat just pranked Dumbledore in front of the entire school." George whispered in awe.

"I wouldn't call it a prank," argued Harry "more of a very thinly veiled insult."

"What would you know about pranking?" Asked Fred suspiciously. Harry just smiled and didn't answer, clapping much more enthusiastically as Daniel was Sorted into Hufflepuff. As the last of the new students sat down and the applause died away, Dumbledore clapped his hands twice and the food appeared on the table in front of them.

As they ate, Harry eavesdropped on the conversations around him of various summer trips - the Weasleys had been to Egypt, where one of their apparently numerous brothers worked as a curse breaker, and Hermione had been to Spain with her parents. Neville had spent much of his time in South America with his parents.

When the food was finally cleared, Dumbledore rose to his feet, calling for silence.

"Now then, before you all disappear off for a well earned rest, there are a few announcements that must be made. Firstly a very warm welcome to our new first years." there was a resounding banging of fists and cutlery on the tables as everyone showed their enthusiasm. Dumbledore smiled and waved down the applause. "We also welcome two new joiners to our third year, Josef Gragarochev, who joins our Slytherin House for this year on an exchange from Russia, and Harry Black-Potter, who will be joining Gryffindor, hopefully for slightly longer." There was a hushed silence and a large number of eyes turned in Harry's direction as those who didn't already know who the new boy at their table realised who he was, before another outburst of banging on tables erupted, taking much longer for Dumbledore to quiet down. "The last, but by no means least, of our warm welcomes, I would like to extend to our new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, a veteran Auror and exceptionally talented magician, Professor Frank Longbottom." There was a much more subdued round of applause and everyone turned their attention from Harry for a moment as they assessed the new teacher, wondering if this one would break the curse on the position. A middle-aged wizard pushed himself slowly to his feet, keeping his hands on the table in front of him for support. Though Harry knew him to be the same age as Sirius, he looked significantly older, brown hair lank and thinning, showing streaks of grey, the handles of two walking canes showing on either side of his chair. Harry had seen a photo of him from when the Marauders had been at school, but he struggled to match the laughing, healthy looking young man from the photo to the haggard man before him who slumped rather heavily back to his seat, as if the mere effort of standing was more than he could manage for long.

"A vague idea?!" Hissed an outraged Hermione at Neville, who shrugged awkwardly and mumbled an excuse that was lost as Dumbledore continued his announcement.

"Professor Longbottom will be continuing the duelling club this year, to be assisted by professors Snape and Flitwick, and quidditch try outs will take place during the second week of term. Lastly, the Forbidden Forest remains both a forest and forbidden. On that note, I bid you all a good night. Prefects, please take charge."

They filled out, the general hubbub continuing as the students made their way to their respective dorm rooms, and Harry soon found himself in the Gryffindor common room, staring around at the room where Sirius, Remus and his father had spent much of their school days.

"Not bad, huh?" Said Ron "I bet it's better than wherever it is they've been keeping you up till now."

"Not really," replied Harry absently "the Black Mansions may be slightly smaller than the school, but they don't lack for comfort."

"Mansions?" Asked Hermione, her voice rising comically.

"Plural of mansion." Responded Harry casually as he admired the paintings, politely waving back at them as they eyed him with equal curiosity. "It means more than one."

"I... I..." Hermione tried to speak and failed miserably, turning to Neville for help.

"Don't look at me, we have more than one as well." Ron huffed indignantly and muttered something about golden spoons not particularly subtly as he disappeared up the stairs towards the boy's dorm room. Hermione gave up on Harry for the evening and remembered one of the other new additions to the school. She narrowed her eyes.

"Why didn't you tell us your dad was the new Defence against the Dark Arts professor?"

Neville shrugged awkwardly and looked away. "Does it matter?" he asked, before continuing without waiting for a response. "He knows his stuff and he'll be a good teacher." There was a short pause while Hermione waited hopefully for more. "Anyway, I'm off to bed. Catch you in the morning 'mione, You coming up Harry?"

"Sure thing" Harry moved to follow. "G'night Granger." As Harry made his way up the stair to his new room, he wondered idly why Neville seemed so uncomfortable about his dad teaching in the school before filing it away as something to ask him about later. Despite how well they were getting on so far, they had still only just met. Besides, Harry had his own secrets, he could hardly begrudge someone else for wanting to keep theirs.

Neville led him to a large room with four four-poster beds, draped in the red and gold of Gryffindor, Harry spotted his trunk placed by the side of the only unoccupied bed, suppressing a groan as he discovered that Ron Weasley was one of the other occupants. The fourth introduced himself as Seamus Finnegan, a muggle born wizard from Ireland, and they chatted away about football and rugby as they all unpacked their things. Despite Ron's repeated insistence that quidditch was a million times better than any muggle sport, Harry was moderately successful in ignoring him, which served to annoy the ginger even further, prompting Harry to renew his efforts purely for his own entertainment.

Eventually, with all of their things ready for their first day of classes and a small pile of packages from the Higgins Group mercenaries tucked carefully into the most secure of the magical trunk's compartments, Harry and his new room-mates settled in for the night.

/

Susan Shaw was up early, proudly buffing the new badge attached to her robes before heading down. She was the first up from the girls' dorm and was expecting to be the first from Gryffindor tower, if not the rest of the school, having woken half an hour before most people's alarms went off, so she was understandably surprised to have the portrait of the Fat Lady swing open before she reached it to admit a red-faced and sweating Harry Black-Potter dressed in a tight fitting t-shirt and a pair of shorts, muddy trainers clutched in one hand and his sock-clad feet clean to the ankles but splattered with mud from there up. He grinned at her and gave a slightly puffed but cheerful "Good morning!" as he moved passed her. She stared in shock before her new role kicked in.

"Wait!" He stopped and turned back.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Where have you been?" She demanded suspiciously "No one is normally up at this hour."

Harry raised his muddied shoes by way of an explanation "I went for a run." He clarified "And I'm normally up at this hour, so I guess now at least someone is." She stared at him in shock. _Who on earth would go for a run voluntarily?_

"But..." she tried, before words failed her.

"Tell you what" said Harry, when her further protests failed to materialise "you finish that thought, I'll go grab a shower and then see you down at breakfast. Sound good?" Susan nodded mutely and watched as the odd new addition to Gryffindor disappeared towards the boys showers.

Ten minutes later, Susan was sat in the Great Hall, the few other early risers munching away at cereals or reading through papers delivered by the morning mail owls. Sh glanced up and saw the freshly scrubbed Harry Black-Potter saunter in, making his way over to her before dropping into the chair opposite, eagerly helping himself to a sample of almost everything on the table until his plate was heaped high before digging in with relish. She took a thoughtful bite of her toast and watched as he began making his way through the food with considerably better manners than the vast majority of the rest of the boys at school. He swallowed and then met her eyes.

"You know it's really very disconcerting to have you watch me eat." He said mildly. She ignored the criticism and continued to study him with narrowed eyes.

"What were you running from?" Harry looked confused.

"Why would I have to run from anything here?" He began semi-rhetorically "I was just running for the pleasure and the fitness." He turned back to his breakfast.

Susan shrugged and returned her focus to her toast, completely unsatisfied with the answer but deciding, smartly, that it was probably easier to let it go. As the rest of the student body began to trickle in, Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger joined them, making idle chit-chat with Susan and Harry before rest of the Prefects arrived, eating a hurried breakfast before deploying to hand out timetables to the students. Harry munched at a slice of toast as he scanned his timetable - Defence Against the Dark Arts first with the Slytherins, then Ancient Runes before lunch, Transfiguration again with the Slytherins, before a free period at the end of the afternoon. He scanned through the timetable, jotting in suggested times for his extra tuition with Arcturus and his other tutors that he could send back for their consideration later on.

They filled the remaining time before their first classes with idle chit-chat, comparing schedules and wondering exactly how Hermione intended to fit in every single class, before picking up their bags and heading off to their first class.

"So how good do you think your dad will be, Nev?" Asked Harry as they ambled through the corridors.

"Dunno." He shrugged awkwardly, "He was apparently one of the best Aurors of the time, right up until..." He trailed off, thinking of the night he couldn't remember, when the Death Eaters had paid his parents a visit. While his mother had suffered the least, she still suffered from persistent shakes and twitches and now spent most of her time campaigning and raising money for the treatment of other curse victims. His father had taken much more of the damage that night, and even now could only walk with the aid of the canes that were his constant companions, though his mind remained as sharp as ever.

By the time they reached the classroom, the Slytherins were already present, as was Professor Longbottom, sat behind the desk at the head of the class, elbows resting on the table, chin resting on interlaced fingers, one cane resting on either side of his chair. Harry glanced around and spotted Josef, the Russian Slytherin sat at the back on his own he smiled and walked towards him, receiving a carefully controlled look in return. The reminder of Pyotr made Harry grin and he dropped his bag beside the desk.

"Privyet," he greeted the other student in Russian, "mind if I join you?" The blank gaze turned distinctly suspicious.

"You speak Russian?" Josef asked in his mother tongue.

"Da" confirmed Harry, pulling the chair out and sitting down, continuing in the same language "though by all means please correct my pronunciation - I am a little rusty." He looked back to the rest of the class to see they had gained the attention of every other student there. "What?" He asked in English.

"You speak Russian?" Asked Hermione incredulously.

"Do you not?" Asked Harry, matching her tone.

"Is he any good?" Sneered Draco.

"Da, he speaks Russian" replied Josef to Hermione in thickly accented English before turning to Draco "and da, he is good."

"How very interesting." The soft voice of Professor Longbottom pierced through the class and everyone turned to assess the new teacher. Harry found himself pierced by the calm eyes of the ex-Auror, feeling very much like a small insect being examined under a microscope, right up until the man blinked and flashed the barest hint of a smile. "Now, to begin. What are the..." Hermione's hand shot up. "Yes, Miss Granger?"

"Sir, are you not going to call a register?" This time it was Hermione who found herself on the end of a piercing stare, and there was an overly long pause as if this question required particular consideration.

"No." Professor Longbottom said eventually. "Now Mr Black-Potter has shown us that he speaks another language... can anyone tell me what advantage this might give him? Other than making new friends, that is." He asked, indicating Harry and Josef with small wave of a trembling hand. There was silence in response as the students considered the question. Unsurprisingly to anyone who had shared a classroom with her before, it was Hermione who raised her hand first, while Harry kicked his chair back on two legs and folded his arms, smirking at the blank faces around him. "Miss Granger."

"If you speak another language you can cast in it too?" She tried cautiously. The older Longbottom gave her another long stare before gracing her with the same brief flicker of a smile and nodding.

"Indeed, a point, Miss Granger. And what are the advantages in casting in a different language? An answer from Slytherin this time, I think." He turned his gaze towards the Slytherin side of the classroom. After a much longer pause, an attractive young blonde witch raised her hand. "Miss Greengrass?"

"If you cast in a language your opponent doesn't understand, they wont know what spell they are blocking?"

"Also correct, also a point." Daphne Greengrass allowed herself a smile that quickly dropped from her face when she saw Draco's scowl at not knowing the answer. She knew she would receive snide comments about being the next Granger or some other such idiocy for not letting him answer the question, but if they had waited for the Malfoy scion to speak then they'd have been there all day. "Now, a pleasant diversion, but a little advanced for third year students. Let us continue with an outline of the lessons I have planned for you this term..."

Professor Longbottom outlined the course they would study for the remainder of the year, focusing on the more dangerous of dark creatures, and Harry found himself impressed. While he had covered much of the proposed material before, as they moved in to a brief over-view on boggarts, he found himself soon as engrossed in the class as he would have been to hear it the first time round and was only too happy to mutter the occasional translation in Russian for Josef when the other boy needed it. Though physically frail and rarely straying from behind his desk, Professor Longbottom proved to have a sharp mind, and was, by all accounts, proving to be one of the better Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers the school had had in recent years.

With the lesson drawing to a close, Frank Longbottom cleared his throat.

"Mr Black-Potter..."

"Sir?" Harry received another long stare that seemed to be either a habit of the new teacher or an effect of his over-exposure to the cruciatus curse all those years ago.

"Five points, Mr Black-Potter, for your efforts in assisting Mr Gragarochev today... I would also like you to stay behind for a moment." Harry nodded, casting a questioning glance at Neville, who just shrugged, uncertain of his father's reasons. With the rest of the students filing their way into the corridor, Harry approached the desk, waiting patiently for the professor to speak first, the older man watching Harry with a carefully neutral expression, lips pursed behind fingers steepled together. As the last student left, the door closed quietly and the hands came down to rest lightly on the desk. "You look like your father..." he began, a faint smile twitching at the corner of his mouth. Harry gave a small smile of his own in return.

"But I have my mother's eyes."

"Indeed. But you do not need an old man reminiscing about his school days and parents that were sadly taken from you." Frank Longbottom continued his level gaze at Harry, who was beginning to feel increasingly like the other man was able to read everything about him and felt decidedly uncomfortable about that fact. "Your father, and godfather for that matter, and indeed Remus and your mother, were very good friends of mine when I came through here. I would be very grateful if you could send my fondest regards to Remus and Sirius... if they are ever here I would very glad to see them again, if they can spare the time, of course."

"It would be my pleasure, sir" he replied politely "I shall pass the message on the next time I write home to them." He turned to leave, joining Hermione who had waited impatiently for him before heading towards the Ancient Runes class.

Unlike the new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, their Ancient Runes instructor, Bathsheda Babbling, did take a register. Harry estimated her to be in her mid-thirties and he wondered if the slight blush as she mentioned his name was due to his godfather's or his father's last name and the memories that it evoked.

"Now then" Professor Babbling began, smiling across the students arrayed in front of her. As an elective class, the students came from all four houses and though they were primarily the more scholarly students and consequently weighted in favour of Ravenclaw, Harry spotted both Hannah Abbot and Leann Dalsen from Hufflepuff, and Daphne Greengrass from Slytherin who had made better speed than they had and was already there when they arrived.

"Some of your class mates not here may well believe that Ancient Runes, not involving flashes of magic and extravagant light shows, is not real magic." The humour was obvious in her voice "However I would like to point out the importance of runes within the magical world – they form the basis for everything that we do, from the wards that protect this castle to the runes on your wand that allow you to cast magic in the first place. This class will give you an understanding of how the runes we use today have come about and how you can apply them yourself. Those of you who progress further will be able to study wards and ward breaking, a fascinating topic that could potentially take you around the world. Indeed, one of our alumni is currently working as a curse-breaker in Egypt for the local branch of Gringotts, and another is working on a scheme in Australia and the Antarctic circle to limit the effects of the what the muggles call Global Warming." Everyone's eyes widened eagerly at the possibilities this class opened up for them and Professor Babbling smiled apologetically at them. "First though, we must have a basic understanding of the runes that we use today. To that end, please copy down these Runes." She waved her wand towards the blackboard at the front of the class, revealing the long list of the runic alphabet. As they began to scratch away, she wandered through the classroom.

"I would recommend that you memorise these most basic of runes as well. They are the oldest known symbols and, while there are many hundreds more, these ones provide the building blocks for your later learning. Very good work, Miss Dalsen." She commented as she passed the young Hufflepuff. Harry scratched his way through the prescribed runes with practiced care – Remus had been his first instructor for ancient runes and had made him write these out what felt like half a thousand times. He was finished quickly and began doodling the rune scheme he had applied to Daniel Skeen's disk-man, flicking through his much-thumbed copy of _Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms_, trying to see how he could improve it.

"Very interesting Mr Potter" said the soft voice at his shoulder. He had been so absorbed that he hadn't noticed Professor Babbling move up behind him. She picked up the scheme and moved through it. She placed it back on the desk and looked at him with a curious smile "What was your intention for this scheme? It consists" she explained to the rest of the class, who had now turned their attention to the new boy and their teacher "of an interesting combination of what would normally be runes that absorb magic, combined with a reflector. I am curious Mr Potter, are you planning on building a magic free zone perhaps?" The class gave a small titter of amusement and Harry cursed himself for not even lasting a day without showing off his advanced learning.

"Umm... no Miss" he was desperately thinking of an excuse and had a deeply ingrained aversion to telling the truth that had been inspired by both Remus and Sirius' tales of their time at Hogwarts and his own pranking history and Westminster. "I was trying to work out a scheme that would allow muggle electrical equipment to work around magic so I could get a TV going in my room back home." Bathsheda Babbling shocked – several of her previous students, especially the muggle-borns, had attempted similar schemes before, though often not until the end of their first year or later. Even then, they usually over-complicating the matter by trying to re-create the action of the muggle device with magic. This, however, was the simple solution that she normally recommended – it acknowledged the fact that the muggle euipment functioned perfectly well without magic and that it was the magic that was interfering and by blocking the magic, the machine worked again.

"Very good, Mr Potter..."

"Sorry Miss," interrupted Harry, "but it's Black-Potter. Or Harry, if you prefer."

"Indeed, Mr Black-Potter" She looked back at the simple scheme. "Five points, for a very effective first scheme." He did not interrupt her again to inform her that this was far from his first attempt, and breathed a sigh of relief as the lunch bell rang out. "For next week I want a foot and a half on the ward scheme of your choice – its history, current use and component parts, as well as what, if anything, you would change and why." She called out over the scraping of chairs.

After lunch, sat in the Transfiguration class, Harry was bored.

After Professor McGonagall had given them the obligatory safety lecture, she had begun to teach them about switching spells. Applying his best I'm-definitely-paying-attention look, Harry tuned out the class and allowed his mind to wander, seeking out the bond from Victoria's locket and smiling at her in her own classes, equally as bored in a maths lesson. He made a mental note to thank Sirius for his pointers on how to daydream but also keep an ear on the back-ground as Professor McGonagall called his name.

"Mr Potter..."

"Black-Potter" He corrected out of what was increasingly becoming habit.

"Mr Black-Potter, perhaps you would like to be the first to demonstrate?" He looked up at her and could have sworn he saw a malicious glint in her eye that suggested she knew he hadn't been paying attention. Beside him, Hermione huffed at having not been chosen, despite nearly dislocating her arm as she raised her hand to volunteer.

"Me?" He asked innocently. Professor McGonagall nodded.

"The first?" He clarified.

"Indeed." A thin smile was on her face at having caught him out.

"To demonstrate switching?" He kept his face a careful blend of confusion and innocence.

"Yes." The smile slipped and changed very little to become an annoyed frown.

"In front of the class?" The frown deepened.

McGonagall gave him a frosty glare even as smiles began tugging at the corners of some of the other students' mouths. "Yes." She ground out.

"The legs of the table for the legs of the chair?"

"Yes."

"The first to demonstrate switching, in front of the class, switching the legs of the table for the legs of the chair?"

"If you can't do it, Potter, just admit it." Interrupted a sneering Draco Malfoy, earning a titter from the Slytherins. Before McGonagall could say another word, Harry, remaining seated but with his face split into a wide grin, whipped his wand forward to the front of the class, carefully enunciating the spell.

With a high-pitched shriek, Draco suddenly dropped from sight and there was a crunch of breaking wood. There was a stunned silence.

"Huh." Said Harry, looking at the appearance of four chair-legs suddenly appearing on top of the desk at the front of the class.

"You tried to curse me!" Screamed Draco, as he leaped to his feet voice squeaking half-way through as he snatched up his wand and pointed it at Harry, face blotchy and wand trembling with rage. "You all saw it!" He insisted wildly "He tried to curse me!" Harry remained in his chair, and it was only Hermione's proximity to him that allowed her to notice the sudden tensing of Harry's every muscle and the slight change in his showing him ready to respond to any spell that came their way.

"MR MALFOY!" Bellowed McGonagall, summoning the irate snake's wand from his hand. "You will control yourself in my class-room!" His protests died as he saw the fury on the teacher's face and noted the lack of support that he was receiving from his still shocked classmates. "It would appear," she stated much more calmly "that Mr Pot- sorry, Mr _Black_-Potter" she corrected herself with a nod of thanks from Harry, who was trying desperately to hide a smirk "has made a common mistake amongst first-time switchers, and has mistakenly switched the legs of Mr Malfoy's chair for the pencils on my desk." Harry received wide-eyed stares from the rest of the class, the majority feeling sympathy for the new boy, knowing that his mistake would earn the ire of one of, if not the most, vindictive of students.

"Oops." Said Harry innocently. "Terribly sorry old boy," he said to Draco, his perfectly controlled face stark contrast to the fury on the other "wont happen again." Draco glared at him and seemed about to snap out a retort when McGonagall spoke up again.

"Very good. And also an example of why special care must be taken with switching spells." The class breathed a collective sigh of relief as the tension slowly eased. It lasted barely a second until Harry spoke again.

"Would you like me to try and reverse the switch, Professor?" There was a long pause as Professor McGonagall studied the boy staring innocently back at her, and a snort of barely repressed amusement from the Gryffindor side of the room. McGonagall barely repressed a sigh – she had wondered just how long it would be before the Marauders' influence on the boy's upbringing would show itself, and now she had her answer.

"No." She said carefully, "I think that would be a bad idea." This time there was an audible sigh of relief from the Slytherins. She enunciated the reversal carefully and the chair legs on her desk were replaced with broken pencils. "Please, Mr Malfoy, have a seat."

"I could have been killed!" He protested, flinging an arm out to point at Harry "Why isn't he being punished?!" McGonagall gave him a cool glare.

"There is no need for dramatics, Mr Malfoy, you are un-hurt." He seemed about to protest again and she raised her level of glare by a notch, cowing the young man "Unless, that is, you feel you need medical attention?" Draco realised that he was receiving little to no sympathy from anyone, even his Slytherin house-mates, and that stressing his status as a victim would be an unacceptable admission of weakness. With a huff that would have had his father most disappointed at his lack of control, he sat heavily down in his chair, wincing at the bruises that were now beginning to form from his sudden drop.

The rest of the lesson proceeded with significantly less drama, each desk being given a rubber ball and a tea-cup, with a careful repetition of the instructions on the wand movements and incantation for the switching spell. Harry, paired with Hermione, became quickly bored again – they both managed to switch the ball for the cup first time around and from then on entertained themselves by seeing who could switch what the fastest. As the class drew to a close, Harry finally became tired of the suspicious looks he was getting from his bushy-haired friend.

"What?" He asked. Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, shaking her head.

"We'll talk later."

"Well that sounds ominous." The bell rang and Harry grinned at her as he began to pack his books away. "Never ask for whom tolls..."

"It tolls for thee, John Donne." Replied Hermione, a small smile at the thought that there might finally be someone at the school who could match her for intellect "I have to get to Divination, but after class, you and I are going to talk."

"As you wish, m'lady." He said motioning her towards the door.

"Mr Black-Potter?" Called McGonagall as the class filtered out. "A word, if you please." A few of the Gryffindors gave him another round of sympathetic looks as they left him behind. Harry and the professor looked at each other in calm silence as the last of the class left and shut the door behind him.

"Despite having seen the grades you achieved in your exams, I must assume that today's little... accident, was exactly that, borne from a hastily cast spell and could have happened to anyone." Fortunately for Harry, his look of innocence was well practiced.

"Of course it was..."

"Good," she cut him off, stopping him from saying anything else and he had been through enough confrontations with teachers to know what was expected of him now.

"It won't happen again." He promised earnestly

"You are quite right," she agreed with a nod "because you will be seeing me tomorrow night for three hours after dinner, to practice your switching spells." Confusion worked its way across his face.

"Are you... are you giving me detention for _accidentally_ switching Malfoy's chair legs for pencils?" He asked incredulously. She matched his shocked gaze with a mild one of her own, allowing the small smile to once again grace her lips.

"No Mr Black-Potter, I am giving a student who joined us late and is apparently not up to speed with our curriculum some extra tuition." She corrected him "Of course, if I thought you had intentionally endangered a fellow student with a prank, I _would_ be putting you in detention, and I assure you, it would be for more than one night. Is that understood Mr Black-Potter?" He nodded. "Very good, you may go."

Neville was waiting for him out in the otherwise deserted corridor and Harry grinned and clapped him on the shoulder as he left and the two boys began ambling towards the Gryffindor tower.

"Hey Nev, cheers for waiting."

"No worries. What did McGonagall have to say?" He asked, curious to see what the outcome of Harry's slip up was. Harry shrugged and grinned back at him.

"Three hours extra tuition tomorrow night to go over switching spells." Neville looked at him in shock.

"She gave you a detention?" He asked in surprise. He always thought that their Head of House was firm but fair, but this seemed to be rather harsh, punishing someone for an accident with a new piece of magic. He had struggled himself with the spell, making only a ball shape with the same coloration of the tea-cup and a tea-cup that was the same colour as the rubber ball but otherwise without change.

"Nuh-uh," corrected Harry, wagging a finger back and forth "it's extra-tuition for a student not yet up to speed with the current curriculum." He parroted back McGonagall's answer from earlier "If she thought it was intentional..."

"It was intentional!" Snapped a voice, interrupting him. Draco, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle, had moved from a side corridor in front of them. Behind them, two more Slytherin third years blocked the passage back the way they came.

"Aw, crap." Muttered Neville.

_Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think. Incidentally, as I write this I'm frequently reminded that I haven't read the books in a while and any errors in character names are entirely my fault. On that note, I couldn't find a list of everyone in Harry's year, so where I've had to I've made up names. Hopefully have the next chapter ready and up soon._

_YA _

_Notsoancientmariner._


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N Hey folks, so here's the next chapter - I won't normally include the end of the previous one as I have here unless it's relevant, as it is here, or as a reminder if it's been a while. Enjoy!_

"She gave you a detention?" Neville asked in surprise. He always thought that their Head of House was firm but fair, but this seemed to be rather harsh, punishing someone for an accident with a new piece of magic. He had struggled himself with the spell, making only a ball shape with the same coloration of the tea-cup and a tea-cup that was the same colour as the rubber ball but otherwise without change.

"Nuh-uh," corrected Harry, wagging a finger back and forth "it's extra-tuition for a student not yet up to speed with the current curriculum." He parroted back McGonagall's answer from earlier "If she thought it was intentional..."

"It was intentional!" Snapped a voice, interrupting him. Draco, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle, had moved from a side corridor in front of them. Behind them, two more Slytherin third years blocked the passage back the way they came.

"Aw, crap." Muttered Neville.

/

"Nev" whispered Harry from the corner of his mouth as he slipped his wand into his hand "how good are you at fighting?" Draco and his two goons sauntered towards them, wands in hand and predatory grins – or as close as Crabbe and Goyle could manage – plastered across their faces.

"There's five of them." Neville whispered back incredulously, knowing full well how this was likely to end even as he turned to face the two behind them, desperately trying to stop his nervous fingers from dropping his wand.

"Great, you can count! That didn't answer the fucking question!" Harry Hissed.

"Aw, crap." Was the only answer Harry got.

"It would seem," drawled Draco, "that you require a certain amount of... education, as to how this school runs."

"Hur hur, edy-kay-shun." Chortled one of the henchmen, probably Crabbe.

"You see," continued Draco smoothly "when you had your little... accident in the class, you embarrassed me, and we can't have that now, can we?"

"Can't 'ave that, can we?" Echoed the second henchman, probably Goyle, doing his best to loom and intimidate Harry by cracking his knuckles. Harry was doing his best to look serious and finding it increasingly difficult as they drew on so many idiotic clichés. He wondered if Draco had to remind the two idiots to breathe every now and again.

"I suppose I can understand how that would not be the most desirable of circumstances." Harry admitted as casually as possible. _You arrogant waste of sperm_, he thought. He was sure he could see a twitch at the corner of Draco's eye, and resolved to do his best to traumatise the other boy as much as possible over his coming years of Hogwarts. "Now what do you propose we do about that?"

There was a stretched pause as Harry and Draco stared each other down, the five other students holding their breath, waiting for the inevitable. Draco's eye twitched once. Twice. His face twisted into a snarl and his wand snapped up, spitting "_Tarantallegra"_ with hatred.

_Too easy._ Thought Harry, smiling as he heard Neville's shouted "_Protego reflecto"_ from behind him. Before Draco's spell was complete, Harry grabbed his wrist, pulling and twisting, re-directing the hex to take probably-Crabbe in the face and dragging Draco into the way of slug-spitting curse from probably-Goyle, who promptly dropped his wand with horror at having hexed the very person he was supposed to protect before grunting in pain and flying back into the wall as Harry's bludgeoner took him square in the chest.

Harry spun to help Neville, whose reflective shield had resulted in one of the others catching a face full of _Petrificus Totalus_, leaving just the one standing and now looking decidedly more nervous than he had done moments before. Harry and Neville glared at him and he visibly wilted, lowering his wand.

"What's your name?" Asked Harry. The other boy glanced around, seeing Draco vomiting slugs and moaning pitifully, the rest of his gang completely incapacitated and their two opponents having not even broken a sweat.

"Um... Theo. Theo Nott." Harry nodded decisively.

"Well, Umm-Theo, you can fuck off now." Theo attempted to hide his nerves with bravado.

"You won't get away with this." He did his best to sneer. Harry raised one eyebrow before looking casually around him.

"Kinda looks like we will, actually."

Theo glared back at him, his confidence building. _Who the hell did this new boy think he was anyway? _"Our house runs this school, Potter - you might have won this one, but the rest won't stand for it. You'll go down just like everyone else, you and the blood-traitor." He waved dismissively at Neville, who barely managed to keep himself from unleashing curses at the Slytherin.

Harry sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. He pocketed his wand and Neville gave him a very uncertain look, his own wand dipping slightly. Theo Nott, taking this for a surrender, grinned. For all of half a second. Harry's fist slammed into his solar-plexus, driving the wind out of him. Neville gaped in amazement as Theo dropped to the floor with a loud "Oooff!"

"My name," said Harry, crouching over his opponent and holding his head up with a handful of the other boy's hair so he could look in his eyes, "is Harry _Black_-Potter. And anyone else who comes against me, or him" he nodded at Neville "gets the same treatment, understand?" He wasn't too sure if Theo was nodding or twitching in pain but decided the message would probably get passed along anyway and let the boy's head drop to the floor with a painful _thunk_ before rising and grinning at Neville.

Neville was giving him a very wary look. "What about this lot?" He waved at the five moaning figures on the floor. Harry shrugged.

"Fuck 'em. Let's go." Harry stepped over the twitching form of Malfoy, careful to avoid the slowly growing pile of slugs. "Cool shield spell by the way, I thought that wasn't taught till fifth year."

"Fourth year," Neville corrected him " And my dad..." he trailed off, mind a mile away as the adrenaline slowly filtered out of his system. Harry nodded and started whistling cheerfully all the way back to Gryffindor tower.

When they got back to their dorm room, Neville pushed the door closed, dumping his books on his bed and falling face first after them with a groan, legs hanging off the end of the bed.

"What's up with you?" There was no answer, so Harry walked over and gave one of his friend's legs a not-too gentle nudge. "Oi." Neville rolled and propped himself up on one elbow, glaring at Harry.

"You do realise what's going to happen now, don't you?" Harry looked at him, slightly confused at his friends reaction. "Remember what I said to you on the train? Slytherins run this school, and you just humiliated one of their more influential and areshole-ish house-mates. Twice." Harry shrugged.

"And?"

"And?!" Neville was on his feet now and jabbed his finger into Harry's chest "And now they're going to want pay-back! You got lucky with McGonagall, and that's not going to happen again because she'll know it was intentional, and we got lucky earlier too – what happens next time?"

"Why are you so sure there'll be a next time?!" Harry argued back, now annoyed that they couldn't have enjoyed their win for even a moment.

"Because there's always a next time with those guys!" Neville shouted. He glared at Harry for a moment before the anger left him and he deflated, slumping down to sit on his bed. "You don't understand, they've dominated the school for years. No one dares stand up to them because the people who have tried have ended up as warnings to everyone else in the hospital wing. If they can't get back at you, they get back at someone else."

Harry narrowed his eyes and thought carefully about it.

"So why did you help me?" He asked. Neville glared back at him but didn't answer. "I'm serious, if you were so worried about what was going to happen if we won, then why did you fight?" Neville's face was in his hands, elbows on his knees.

"Because you don't leave your mates to fight on their own." Harry thought about how to word the next bit very carefully.

"Gaaaaayyyyy." Neville snorted with laughter despite himself and looked up at Harry's grinning face.

"You can be such a twat, you know that don't you?"

"Yep!" Harry admitted, outwardly cheerful while in the back of his mind, he was wondering exactly what he'd managed to get himself into this time. "It's one of my better qualities. Come on, let's go chill out on the grass for a bit. Who knows, we might even get ourselves dates for the first Hogsmeade weekend."

"Huh" grunted Neville, the smile fading from his face even as he pushed himself to his feet. "You might anyway."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked, surprised at his friend's sudden switch in attitude.

"Well," Neville shifted awkwardly "look at me." Harry looked – the other boy was a bit taller than him, and Harry recognised Frank's dark hair and brown eyes, though Neville's seemed to always hold a certain sadness in them. His features, and indeed the rest of his body, was softened by a more than healthy dose of puppy-fat that he tried to hide with baggy robes. "Now look at yourself." Harry didn't need to look in a mirror to know what the other boy meant, but he nodded in understanding.

"Fair enough," he admitted "but I am the way I am because I've been playing rugby since I was about five, and I run and go to the gym regularly. Nothing stopping you doing the same, Nev." The other boy shrugged awkwardly and headed towards the door. "Tell you what" Harry said forcing cheer into his voice as they made their way down the stairs "I'm going to wake you up bright and early tomorrow and you'll come for a run with me, sound good?"

"A run?" Asked Neville incredulously "No, it sounds awful!"

Harry cackled gleefully and clapped his friend on the shoulder "That's the spirit!"

/

"Where were you?" Hissed Hermione over the dinner table at Harry, feeling rather put out at not being able to find either of them when her classes eventually finished. Harry smirked back at her and prepared to give her a long list of places he had been in the last twelve years until his arrival at Hogwarts.

"Outside in the sun." Cut in Neville from next to Hermione, seeing exactly what Harry was about to do and figuring she probably deserved a break. Harry let out a grumpy huff as he helped himself to a portion of Beef Wellington and plenty of vegetables.

"I still want to talk to you." Hermione said, mollified for now. Harry shrugged and ladled gravy over everything before pouring himself a goblet of pumpkin juice.

"So do we." The Weasley twins said, appearing behind him.

"Fred, George." Greeted Harry, glad for the interruption to Hermione's questioning "How can I help you?" They gave him an amused look.

"We hear a great many things on our travels." Began Fred.

"Many great things," agreed George "can you imagine what splendid tale might have reached our ears today?" Harry couldn't hide his amusement at their interactions, and waved for them to take a seat.

"I have absolutely no idea." They glanced at each other before adopting serious expressions and taking seats either side of Harry.

"That's ok."

"We'll tell you." They leaned in conspiratorially, lowering their voices as if they were imparting the greatest of state secrets.

"So it turns out there was a third year Transiguration class this afternoon that were due to start the basics of switching..." Harry nodded along, matching their serious expressions even as the amusement danced in his eyes.

"... and one of the students, in what was either a very unfortunate, though highly amusing, failure in his first attempt at a switching charm..."

"... or an exceptionally well executed prank, carried out in front of one of the strictest teachers this school has seen in decades, and targeting one of the biggest pricks this school has seen in centuries..."

"... switched the chair legs of said student's chair for the pencils on said teacher's desk." Harry looked between them, noting that several other Gryffindor students were also desperately trying to eavesdrop on the next part of the story. The twins were silent.

"So who was this either unfortunate or incredibly skilled, daring and probably devilishly good-looking student?" Both twins gave him their best 'don't-bullshit-a-bullshitter' stare. Harry smirked and placed a mock innocent hand to his chest. "Moi?" The twins nodded in unison. "Huh." Harry paused to think about it for a moment. "So which one do you think I am?" The twins grinned at him.

"It get's better." Continued George, without answering. "Rumour has it that the victim of this prank..."

"Alleged prank." Corrected Harry with a smirk.

"Sorry," Fred apologised for his brother "alleged prank, tried to claim some sort of vengeance on the alleged perpetrator." Hermione glared at Harry and then at Neville.

"What happened? Why didn't you tell me?" Harry shushed her and motioned for the twins to continue with their story.

"So the alleged victim approaches the alleged perpetrator with an unconfirmed number of dastardly comrades,"

"Four." Input Neville despondently, earning himself another glare from Hermione.

"Thank you, four dastardly comrades, intent on extracting some petty vengeance, only things didn't quite go to plan for our vengeful vic and pals, and they ended up getting soundly thrashed by the alleged perpetrator." Hermione gasped and the twins were back to staring at Harry. He chewed thoughtfully before swallowing and then taking a sip of his pumpkin juice.

"Interesting story." He moved to take another mouthful of his dinner but was stopped short by the glares from the twins and Hermione. "What?"

"You do realise what this means, don't you?" Asked George.

"Umm… yes?" Tried Harry. Hermione glared at him.

"They're going to want payback, and they'll keep going until they get it." She explained angrily, glancing over her shoulder towards the Slytherin table. Harry had carefully positioned himself with his back to the wall and had noticed several angry looks directed his way. He shrugged.

"I'm sure I'll survive." He ignored the incredulous looks that spread across his house-mates' faces, then grinned up at them. "They might not though." Hermione huffed and the twins eyed him skeptically. Neville closed his eyes and said a silent prayer to any god that might be listening for help getting through the coming school year.

"And what makes you think that you'll do better than anyone else has until now?" Asked Fred curiously. Harry's grin widened and he leaned back, spreading his arms wide.

"I'm Harry Black-Potter."

"We are so fucked." Mumbled Neville.

/

"Neville, wake up." The boy cracked his eyes open. It was still dark and he could barely make out the shadow shaking him. He groaned and pushed the hand away, rolling over to go back to sleep. "Come on, get up." The shadow shook him again, more violently.

"Wha'?" He mumbled from his pillow.

"We're going for a run. Come on." _Fuck you, Harry Black-Potter._ Thought Neville, as he tried to burrow away from the shaking. "Ten seconds and then I'm dumping cold water over you." Neville thought about it for five, before rolling slowly out of bed. He cast a _tempus_ and groaned again when he saw what the time was.

"I hate you." He said with feeling.

"Whatever, get your clothes on."

"I don't have any…" Harry just pointed at the pair of trainers by Neville's bed with the shorts and t-shirt next to them. "Shit." He continued muttering curses as he pulled on his clothes.

They made their way out through the deserted hallways before moving out onto the dew covered grass. Harry grinned out at the slowly lightening sky, rolling his head from side to side and shaking his arms and legs. This really was one of his favourite times, before anyone else was up and the whole day stretched before you full of possibilities.

"Right Nev, we're going to start with a gentle jog out to the Quidditch pitch, couple of laps and then back up in time for breakfast ok?" Neville looked at Harry, then out to the Quidditch pitch, which seemed an awful long way away, and then back at Harry. Harry tried to give him a reassuring smile. "It'll be fine, we'll start at a nice slow pace and if you want me to slow down, just say so, ok?"

The next hour was one of the most unpleasant of Neville's young life. While the first hundred metres or so was ok, by the time they reached the pitch, he was panting heavily, and to his embarrassment Harry seemed to still be breathing normally. After a brief respite as Harry took him through some stretches, Neville's torture began again, with Harry demanding at least three laps from him before they could return to the castle.

"You're evil!" He protested with a wail. Harry shrugged.

"No pain, no gain! If it makes you feel better, you do three and I'll do six." Neville glared at him, but began a slow jog round the pitch. True to his word, Harry did two laps for every one of Neville's own, and by the time they finished, with the sun beginning to peak over the horizon, both boys were puffed and sweating against the morning chill. "Right mate, back, shower, breakfast. Try the porridge."

"Wha'?" Neville had been consoling himself with the thought of a hearty breakfast to start the day and his mouth was watering with the thought of mounds of bacon and eggs over several slices of toast.

"You are what you eat," Harry stated "you want to get fit, it's not just about exercise, it's about diet. Now come on, or we'll miss breakfast all together." With a groan from Neville, they set off back up towards the castle, arriving back a the tower just in time to bump into Susan Shaw on her way down to breakfast.

An hour later, Susan Shaw was just leaving the Gryffindor tower when she found a very breathless Neville Longbottom and a slightly less puffed and significantly more cheerful Harry Potter.

"'Morning!" Harry greeted her with a happy smile. She smiled back at him.

"Good morning, Harry… is he ok?" She looked at Neville with concern. The chubby boy was breathing heavily and had bright pink spots on his very pale cheeks. The look he gave her contained so much self-pity that she couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

"That man" panted Neville, waving at Harry as he dragged his way slowly towards the showers "is pure evil." Susan raised an eyebrow at Harry, whose grin never faltered as he shrugged away Neville's accusation.

"See you at breakfast!" He called over his shoulder as he followed the other boy to get cleaned up.

/

Having finished his breakfast, Harry was sipping away at his tea and doing his best to encourage Neville that running would get easier. Neville seemed more interested in eyeing Ron Weasley's massively overloaded plate over the top of a steaming bowl of porridge dotted with blueberry's, when a large snowy owl landed at the table next to them. Harry offered the bird a piece of bacon out with one hand as he deftly tweaked the two letters attached to its leg out with the other.

"Post already?" Asked Percy Weasley, one of the nosier prefects who for some reason had taken a disliking to Harry. Harry broke the black wax imprinted with Arcturus' seal from the first and began reading.

"Yep," he responded absent-mindedly "I have some extra classes that we needed to schedule round my current ones, and I also wanted my godfather's advice about something." He added, tapping the second letter with a finger.

"Extra classes?" Asked Hermione, interest sparked by the thought of any opportunity for extra learning that she might be missing out on. "On what? With who?"

"Yep" said Harry again, finishing his first letter and opening the second as he answered Hermione "Potions, languages, various classes I was taking at Westminster that I don't want to fall behind on, that sort of thing." An evil smile spread across his face as he read the letter from Sirius. "Finished." He said to the letter.

"Huh?" He met Hermione's confused gaze and winked at her, just as the letter burst into flames and crumbled into a small pile of ash that Harry deftly directed into his empty cereal bowl. Brushing his fingers off, he turned to Percy Weasley, ignoring the prefect's disapproving look.

"Have you seen your brothers this morning?"

"Which ones, and why?" he asked suspiciously.

"Fred and George, and I have a proposition for them I think they might be interested in." Percy harrumphed when no more information was forthcoming, but gave an answer anyway.

"I would imagine that they're still in bed. Most days they will rise in just enough time to reach their first class. You're better off catching them at lunch." Harry nodded, tucking away Arcturus' letter and reaching for his bag.

"Wait a minute, did you say you have potions from an external tutor?" Asked Susan Shaw. Every student within earshot turned slowly to look at Harry Black-Potter, who apparently had found a way of escaping classes with the loathsome head of Slytherin House. The only exception was the youngest Weasley boy, who was far too busy stuffing his face with extra breakfast to pay attention to anything on classes.

"Yeah, you didn't think I was going to take classes with a Death Eater did you?" Harry took care to hide his grin at everyone's shocked faces. "I mean, I'm amazed that he escaped jail, let alone be allowed to teach children, but there's no way in all nine circles of hell I'm going to be in a class-room with someone who worked for the prick who killed my parents." There was a stunned silence as Harry made his way out of the Great Hall, waiting until he was through the doors and out of sight before letting out a self-satisfied chuckle at the bombshell he'd just dropped. He wondered just how many owls would be sent home over the next few days, and gave it till about lunch time before he was summoned to see the headmaster.

He was the first to arrive at Hagrid's hut for Care of Magical Creatures and was leaning against the fence that surrounded Hagrid's vegetable garden when he heard approaching footsteps. He turned and saw Neville and Hermione leading the charge, a crowd of mostly Gryffindors with a couple of the more punctual Slytherins thrown in for good measure.

"A Death Eater?!" Hissed Hermione, trying to question Harry discretely and failing miserably. Harry adopted his best innocent expression.

"Yeah, didn't you guys know?" The looks they gave him was answer enough. He shrugged. He'd have to make sure that certain juicy rumours got spread around as soon as possible, and then realised that with Parvarti Patil hanging off every word, he probably wouldn't have to. Hermione had given him a brief on the major characters within their year, and apparently telling Parvarti anything you wanted to spread around the school was better than taking out a front-page spread in the Daily Prophet. So long as you didn't mind a little embellishment, that is. "Snape's a Death Eater. Or was, I guess. Merlin only knows how he managed to escape Azkaban, I mean, do you know what they had to do to earn those Dark Marks?" Some of the pure blood members of the class looked a little sick and nodded, while the muggle-borns shook their heads in the negative and even the Slytherins were casting worried glances at each other, with the exception of Daphne Greengrass, who was giving Harry a very calculating look.

At that moment, a glaring Draco arrived with the remaining Slytherins. Just as he seemed about to say something, the door to Hagrid's hut slammed open, and the half-giant grinned out at them.

"Good! Ye'r all 'ere." He strode out, the large hound Fang bouncing out after him. The dog spotted Harry and immediately made his way towards him, butting up against him and demanding attention, prompting startled yelps from the students who hadn't met the large dog before. "Got a li'l surprise for yeh today - should be a good 'un. Come on, follow me!" Hagrid missed the nervous glances of the class as he led them a short way into the Forbidden Forest to a small clearing. "Wait 'ere, shan't be long."

"Hello you big softy!" Said Harry cheerfully to Fang as the big dog slumped to sit almost on Harry's feet, letting out a happy growl as the boy patted him, tail beating the ground with enthusiasm. The rest of the class looked on with a mixture of trepidation that Fang would suddenly turn on the new boy, and amusement at the interaction between student and pet. Draco was once again about to say something, when Hagrid, leading a gigantic winged animal. "Oh cool!" Exclaimed Harry "A Hippogriff!"

"Aye it is!" Said Harry happily "Buckbeak 'ere is a Hippogriff. Righ' now, 'ippogriffs are proud creatures and the can understand us - in't that right Bucky?" The large beaked head of the animal nudged him affectionately before snapping a rat out of the air that Hagrid casually tossed over his shoulder. "Now most o' these classes are goin' t'be practicals. You'll work wi' the animals, then write about 'em fer yer homework. Not a lot though, coz I don' like the reading too much." The Gryffindor's chuckled at Hagrid's self-depreciating humour, while a few of the Slytherin's sneered at what they saw to be an admission of ignorance. Hagrid grinned at them, ignoring the disdain from the Slytherins.

"Now when you approach a 'ippogriff, first off, ye bow, righ' - shows respect, dunnit? Then, if they bow back, and if yer lucky, ye get a ride. Any questions?" A nervous looking Theo Nott raised his hand.

"What happens if it doesn't bow back?" Hagrid thought about it carefully for a moment, looking between the assembled students and the creature next to him. Suddenly the students looked very small and the Hippogriff looked very big. He gave them a reassuring smile and spread his big arms wide.

"Tha's why I'm 'ere, ain't it?" He looked around them all "Now, who's first?"

"Dibs!" Called Harry quickly, stepping forwards. His enthusiasm waned as he got nearer. That beak suddenly looked very sharp, and perfectly suited for tearing flesh from bone, and talons the size of his fore-arms looked more than capable of pinning him down while the beak got to work. He took a calming breath and bowed low to the creature.

For a long moment, he thought he was going to have to sprint back towards the fence as the creature's golden eyes examined him closely, then breathed a small sigh of relief as the creature sank to one knee before him. He heard a few sighs from behind him as well, but he couldn't be certain if they were of similar sentiment or if they had hoped to see him dismembered by the big Hippogriff.

"Good stuff!" Boomed Hagrid, "Now, come up to 'is side, just 'ere." He pointed at a spot just next to Buckbeak's shoulder and Harry nervously approached, reaching out cautiously to pet him as he passed, the golden eye following him all the way round. When he got there, Buckbeak gave him a single dip of the head in acknowledgement before sinking to his front knees. "Go on, tha's it." Hagrid encouraged him to mount just forward of the giant wings.

When he was settled, taking firm grip of the Hippogriff's thicker feathers on the back of it's neck, leaning forward into the heavily muscled neck as Buckbeak took several lumbering steps forward. Then, with two great flaps of the large wings, they were airborne. Within moments, Buckbeak had climbed above the treetops and circled the paddock in gentle circles before descending into a surprisingly gentle landing next to Harry's waiting classmates.

"Good, 'ey?" Called Hagrid as Harry slipped down from Buckbeak's back and grinned, giving a "thank you" pat to the Hippogriff as he made his way back to the far side of the fence. "Righ' then, who wants ter go next?"

With a hefty shove from Draco, Vincent Crabbe stumbled forward.

"Great!" Boomed Hagrid cheerfully, waving the nervous boy forward. "Tha's it, now steady there. Take a bow..." Hagrid talked him gently through it, as if coaching a nervous animal out of its lair. Buckbeak bowed back and with a "good stuff" from Hagrid, Vincent approached the Hippogriff, scrambling nervously onto it's back. A short while later and with a much less nervous Crabbe than before, Buckbeak landed and the boy slid off the side, grinning from ear to ear as he made his way back to the group of students.

Draco, having now proven to his satisfaction that it was safe, pushed his way forward.

"I'm next." He strutted up to the Hippogriff and gave the most perfunctory of bows, barely waiting for a bow in return before strutting up to its side and leaping on. With an irritated toss of his head, Buckbeak turned and with a short run, was once again airborne. By the time he landed, the rest of the class had formed into two groups, a line of those eager to have their own turn and a small huddle of those who had no intention at all of going anywhere near the animal. "Nothing to it" bragged Draco as he dismounted "nothing compared to a decent broom of course, but pretty good for an over grown chicken."

Any sniggers from the Slytherin's were drowned out by shocked gasps as Buckbeak, with an outraged screech at the insult, lunged forward to strike at Draco's unprotected back. The boy turned just in time to see the Hippogriff rearing to strike, and froze in terror. Fortunately for him, Hagrid did not freeze, shoulder barging the animal out of the way and wrapping giant arms around it's neck, taking several scratches down the front of his leather jerkin as he restrained it. After several tense moments as Hagrid grunted and strained against the irate Hippogriff, it turned abruptly, shaking the groundskeeper loose and trotted away into the forest.

Hagrid was furious, rounding on Draco and clearly struggling to restrain his temper.

"That beast could have killed me!" Draco cried indignantly.

"Aye, it could ha'!" Agreed Hagrid angrily, "An' why d'yeh think it wanted to hurt yeh?" He demanded of the boy, jabbing at him with an oversized finger.

"Because it's a stupid, untrained…" began Draco, not one to take criticism from anyone, let alone this half-breed giant.

"Because you insulted him!" Snapped Hagrid, cutting him off "Wha' did I tell you at the start, eh? Anyone?" He glared around the group, cowing the students into silence. He took a deep, calming breath. "I told yeh, 'ippogriffs are proud creatures, and the can understand yeh, didn't I?" There were several nods of confirmation and a smattering of 'yesses' to answer the rhetorical question. Hagrid gave a rumbling sigh, disappointed with the way his first lesson had gone. "Ten points from Slytherin, for not listening to instructions and for puttin' yourself and the others in danger." Draco opened his mouth to protest, but Hagrid cut him off again "And a detention wi' me too - maybe cleaning out the stables will teach you to respect animals, no' insult 'em." He brushed at the scratches to his jerkin, grumbling quietly when he realised that one of the claws had torn a significant rent in the leather. "Unfortunately for the rest of yeh, thanks to Mr Malfoy 'ere, there won't be no more rides today," unsurprisingly, there weren't too many disappointed faces amongst the students "an' I want a foot from each of yeh on the correct way to approach a Hippogriff and the proper marks o' respect for 'em." A chorus of groans went round the group.

There wasn't much talk until Hagrid left the group of students, at which point Draco had recovered enough of his composure to vent about his treatment during the class.

"That stupid half-breed and his stupid bloody creatures..." Began Draco.

"Really?" Interrupted Harry incredulously "You're calling him stupid even after he saved your life, all because you couldn't handle the basic instructions that someone thicker than my morning shit managed to follow? No offence, Vinnie." he cast as an aside to Crabbe, who shrugged, not realising he had been insulted and rather liking the shortening of his name, having always quietly disliked the fact that he was named after a squib painter his mother was particularly fond of.

"You need to watch your mouth, Potter." Growled Draco, fingers itching to go for his wand.

"Firstly, it's Black-Potter, secondly, it was you running your mouth that got you into shit Draco, and fucked things up for the rest of us." Retorted Harry. There was an awkward shuffling and a few angry looks towards the Slytherin as Harry reminded the other students that they too could have had a ride on the Hippogriff. "Speaking of getting in the shit - do enjoy your detention mucking out stables, won't you?"

This was too much for Draco, who snatched his wand out and pointed it straight at Harry's face, carefully keeping himself out of arm's reach. Harry's wand dropped into his hand, though he kept it pointing at the floor. The rest of the class moved cautiously out of the way.

"You're going to regret that, Potter." Draco's voice came out as close to a menacing growl as a thirteen year old boy could manage. Harry met his gaze over the wand.

"I'd be very careful about where you point that wand, Draco." Harry's voice came out soft and low, carrying all the weight that Draco wished his had, calm, despite the fact that Draco was now trembling with repressed rage. "Remember what happened last time you pointed your wand at me? And you had backup that time, five of you on two of us and you still lost…" Draco looked like he was about to hex him when a voice from the back of the crowd of students hissed.

"McGonagall's coming!" Draco snatched his wand back down, tucking it hurriedly away as Harry slid his up his sleeve and out of sight.

"What is going on here?" Demanded the Scotswoman eyeing them all suspiciously.

"Nothing Miss," said Harry smoothly "we were just discussing Professor Hagrid's class on Hippogriffs."

"Indeed…" McGonagall glared at them all, hoping that one of them would break and drop the others in it. There was a lot of foot shuffling and avoiding her gaze, but no one spoke. "The headmaster wants to see you, Harry, Miss Granger, please inform Professor Flitwick that Harry will be late for his Charms class."

"Yes, professor."

"Get on now, the rest of you, don't dawdle. Mr Potter, come with me." She turned on her heel.

"Black-Potter, Professor." Corrected Harry as he matched her pace. She glanced down at him with a curious expression, trying to work out if he was more of his biological or adoptive father and praying that he would lean towards the light, like his Potter ancestors and not towards the dark and grey, like the Black family was prone to.

"Indeed." He grinned, not looking up at her and began whistling cheerfully. "Stop whistling please, Mr Black-Potter."

"As you wish, Professor." He began humming the same tune, occasionally singing the lyrics under his breath.

"... the Wonderful Wizard of Oz..." They passed a group of fifth-years, including the Weasley twins, and Harry raised his voice a little. "We hear he's a whiz of a wiz, if ever a wiz there was…"

"Mr Black-Potter…" Said McGonagall sternly, but Harry was certain he could the faintest twitch of a smile at the corner of her mouth.

"Sorry, Professor." He winked at Angelina Johnson who was smirking at having recognised the melody. As they made their way down the corridor, Harry was certain he could hear a quiet voice behind him singing away.

"If ever, oh ever a wiz there was, the Wizard of Oz is one because…" The voice faded as they turned the corner, approaching the gargoyle that guarded the entrance to the Headmaster's offices.

"Riesen Chocolate Chews" muttered McGonagall at the statue and the stone grumbled against the floor as it moved out of the way.

"Great sweet." Commented Harry idly as they stepped onto the revolving staircase. McGonagall hummed noncommittally and pushed the door open, revealing the Headmaster leaned back in his chair with his feet up on the desk, fingers interlaced over his stomach, tapping to a tune only he could hear as he stared up at the ceiling in quiet contemplation. He glanced over as they entered and with remarkable speed for a man of his age, dropped his feet from the desk and leant forwards on the desk, lips pursed behind steepled fingers, watching Harry, an unreadable expression behind his glasses.

"Ah, Minerva, Mr Potter…" he greeted his guests offering them a lemon drop from the bowl on his desk. McGonagall refused with a small wave of her hand and a look of mild distaste at the too-sweet sweet.

"Black-Potter, sir." Corrected Harry mildly, reaching out to snag a sweet, unwrapping it and flicking it into the air to catch it deftly in his mouth. He looked back to see the incredulous looks the headmaster and his deputy were giving him and realised he probably should have acted with more decorum in the Headmaster's office. "Sorry."

"It's not that, Harry, it's just… no one ever takes him up on the offer of a lemon drop." Explained McGonagall.

"Oh… Sorry. Why do you offer them then?" Dumbledore frowned at him, put out at having lost a lemon-drop.

"Politeness. Just as you should politely refuse." Explained the headmaster irritably. Harry apologised, which Dumbledore waved off, putting a rather forced smile on before continuing. "Now, the reason I've asked you here is because of your... comments this morning at breakfast."

"My comments, sir?"

"Indeed…" Dumbledore paused, wondering how best to word it - he wanted to replace the Blacks as Harry's… puppet-master was too strong a word… key adult, that was it - and if he punished the boy too much, then he'd end up pushing himself further away "Now about Professor Snape, your accusations seriously undermine his authority as an incredibly talented Potions Master and teacher." Harry's eyes nearly climbed into his hairline.

"Talented teacher?!" He asked incredulously "I don't even go to his lessons and I already know that he victimises anyone not in his own house, and his bias has been a direct contributor to the situation this school is in at the moment. As to the accusations, they're entirely accurate, so it's not really an accusation, more of a revelation or statement of fact. More importantly, why the hell do you allow that man to be a teacher?" His voice rose angrily as he directed the question towards the headmaster. It was McGonagall's turn to look surprised, not that these revelations were particularly new to her, just that someone, least of all a student, was willing to criticise Dumbledore.

"He is a superbly talented Potions Master…" began Dumbledore.

"And a superb shit of a teacher, and an even more superb shit of a human being, not to mention the fact that he looks like a kiddy-fiddler!" Harry interrupted. Dumbledore found himself struggling to maintain his temper as this young boy dared speak against him.

"Mr Potter…" began the headmaster, face clouded with anger.

"Black-Potter" Corrected Harry irritably. _How many times do I have to say that?_ He wondered to himself.

"Whatever," snapped Dumbledore "I am the Headmaster of this school, and as such I chose the people who I believe will teach the students best - in this case, Professor Snape - and I will not accept criticism of them by students who have been here less than a week and do not even attend said teacher's classes, is that clear?" Harry glared back at him, fists clenched in anger.

"Crystal." He ground out through clenched teeth. In a flash, the Headmaster's expression changed to benevolent grandfather.

"Good!" He said, clapping his hands together, eyes twinkling at the irate young boy in front of him. "And how are you enjoying Hogwarts so far?"

"Fine." Harry had barely gotten the word out when the headmaster turned his attention to the paperwork on his desk.

"Good good," he said distractedly, "off you go now." Harry sat for a moment, wondering if the Sorting Hat had been right and the old man was drifting towards senility. He stood and made his way towards the door, McGonagall following with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Don't forget your promise, boy." The Sorting Hat mumbled from it's perch.

"Working on it." McGonagall's expression was now worried, considering the utter chaos that could be caused by the Hat and Harry working together.

"Mr Pot- Sorry, Mr Black-Potter" McGonagall began half way down the staircase, correcting herself before Harry jumped in. "I am curious about something you said up there…" She was decidedly uncomfortable, having, up until now, prided herself on being fully aware of everything that was going on in the school, or at least as fully aware as any teacher could be.

"What's that, Professor?" Harry asked tiredly as they left the staircase and the gargoyle rumbled back into place behind them.

"You mentioned the situation this school was in at present. What did you mean by that?" Harry stopped dead and turned to face her, a look of critical assessment on his face. She met his eyes with a mix of concern and hope - hope that he would trust her and concern for the answer that he might give. After a lengthy wait, he began, choosing his words very carefully.

"When I met Malfoy on the train, he insulted pretty much everyone I was with and I told him, not so politely, to leave." McGonagall nodded for him to continue "Afterwards, I was told that I may regret my actions as, because he's a Slytherin and from a wealthy, influential family, Draco basically ran the school, and any slight against him, or any Slytherin for that matter, was met with harsh punishment." McGonagall huffed incredulously - there was absolutely no way that that was the case, and if it were, she were sure that she would not be blind to it. "Let me ask you a couple of questions," Harry said, cutting off her denial "when was the last time there was a major incident between a Slytherin and another member of the student body either during a lesson or out of one, not including mine and Draco's… interaction yesterday. Hell, when was there last a student from another class that received any serious recognition in front of the student body?"

The transfiguration professor felt a moment of relief, and waved off the question with a small smile "You are speaking nonsense, Harry, why just last year a sixth year Hufflepuff won the duelling tournament just before Easter…" She faded off, eyes going distant.

"And what happened to him after that?" Asked Harry.

She remembered poor Thomas Packson's disastrous end to the year. _Surely that couldn't be related… could it?_ She wondered to herself.

"What happened to him, Professor?" Harry's voice was soft, concerned for a student he had never met at the reprisals he knew must have been exacted against him.

"He was in a potions accident…" Her voice trailed off before she swallowed nervously, trying to deny the idea that the two events might be linked. Poor Tom was still in a ward in St Mungo's, recovering after the incident. "A fellow student made a mistake with a muscle growth potion. Added too much Salamander spit and stirred the wrong way, Professor Snape said…" her voice trailed off, and Harry tried to think what potions that could make.

Many potions that had related results were similar in concoction: a draught that was supposed to cure a lung infection, for example, was only five millilitres of mermaid tears and a pinch of gillyweed away from a brew that allowed you to breath underwater for two hours. He swallowed the taste of bile as he realised what it could have been.

"Flesh remover?" He whispered. McGonagall nodded, remembering the smell of melting flesh and the twisted look of pain on the poor boy's face. She had visited him in St Mungo's over the summer, where he had still been re-growing his legs and hand. The always happy sportsman, who had so looked forward to spending his summer on the Junior Dueling Circuit, had been replaced with a hollow, quiet boy, unable to stop staring at the ruins of his legs that the healers were fairly sure he would never regain the proper use of.

"Who was the other student? I'm not asking for a name, just wondering if they were a Slytherin." McGonagall remembered well the nervous young boy who had stood before her and the headmaster as they investigated the accident. Professor Snape stood behind young Alphonso Podmore, who had in fact graduated with an Outstanding in Potions at NEWT level. She nodded. "And let me guess, nothing happened to him?" With Snape vouching for him and the fact that he had always been spoken of well by his teachers, it had been ruled an unfortunate accident and no action had been taken. She shook her head, and Harry sighed. "Maybe it was just an accident, but how many other things like that have happened in the last few years?" McGonagall's face took on a far-away look as she replayed the previous year, then the year before that. "Any way" Harry said after a moment of sober consideration "I need to get to my Charms class, professor, I'll see you shortly."

"Indeed, Mr Black-Potter" she agreed distractedly "watch out for yourself." She added the warning as an afterthought as the number of apparently convenient accidents slowly added up. Harry left the Deputy Headmistress alone, her face turning ashen as she reached a disturbingly high number in the past two years. _How could I have missed this?!_

/

Harry was a little concerned as to the level of retaliation that could possibly be expected by the Slytherins - at least they wouldn't be able to easily explain away a potions accident with him not attending Snape's classes. He knocked at the Charms class door before letting himself in.

"Ah, Mr Potter, glad you could join us!" Greeted the half-goblin in his high-pitched voice.

"Greeting's esteemed professor" greeted Harry in Gobbledegook. Crackclaw's lessons had been an interesting combination of vicious insults and the incredibly formal speech pattern of goblin conversation "please accept my apologies for my delayed arrival, the headmaster requested my presence." Professor Flitwick looked at him in surprise, before responding, also in Gobbledegook.

"Your gracious apology is accepted, Mr Black-Potter, and Miss Granger has already made me aware. Please, take your seat." He gestured towards the spare desk by Hermione, and Harry ignored the curious looks he was getting from the mix of Ravenclaws and Gryffindors.

"You speak Gobbledegook?" asked Parvati's twin sister, Padma. He made a mental note to thank the Hat for sending them to separate Houses, otherwise he wasn't certain that he would have been able to tell them apart.

"Do you not?" Harry smirked and Hermione rolled her eyes as he used the same response he had directed her way when she asked about his knowing Russian, but also reminded her that she still had a bone to pick with the new arrival.

"I still want to talk to you!" She whispered and Harry shushed her with a smile, focusing on Professor Flitwick's introduction to basic Repelling Charms.

/

As Harry was walking towards the Great Hall for lunch, he and Neville ambling along and Hermione desperately trying to speed them up, he heard a quiet "_psst"_ from a side corridor. A quick glance and he saw two familiar, eerily similar faces. He grinned and carefully dropped back without attracting any attention.

"In here." Said Fred, holding the door open for him.

"Rumour has it you want to marry us." Smirked George from his position leaning casually against the wall just inside the door. Harry leant against a desk, folding his arms and watching the twins with an amused smile on his face as the door was closed and twin number two took up an identical stance to his brother, leaning on the far side of the door.

"Not quite… I do have a different sort of proposition that you might be interested in though."

The twins glanced at each other and then back at Harry.

"Do tell." Encouraged Fred, voice carefully neutral. Harry's smile spread into a predatory grin as he began to outline the situation as he saw it and exactly what he planned to do about it.

Twenty minutes later, he was finished and the twins were giving him two equally serious looks. After five minutes they had taken seats as Harry continued with his plan and after ten they were so absorbed they had forgotten to mimic each other's posture.

"That's quite a big tasking you're taking up there, boyo." Stated Fred, letting out a long breath.

"That's quite a big risk you're asking us to take with you, too, pal." Observed George. Harry shrugged.

"Of course I don't need an answer straight away - say by the end of the week?" The twins nodded thoughtfully, "And naturally, if you decide against it, I would ask you to keep this conversation to yourselves."

"Of course."

"Naturally."

Harry nodded happily and slid off the desk, opening the door and making to leave. He snapped his fingers as he remembered something, turning back to the twins as they gathered their books together.

"One last thing, there's a map that I've heard of that could prove useful, you might keep a look out for it in your travels."

"A map?" Asked George, thoughts going immediately to the parchment that was never too far from one of them and was currently feeling rather conspicuous at the bottom of his book bag.

"What sort of map?"

"This one is rather special," explained Harry with a gleam in his eye "it shows the school, including all the secret passageways, most importantly though, it shows where everyone is, teachers, students... everyone." There was a long silence as the twins stared back at him.

"That sounds like it could be useful" observed Fred, with feigned casualness "We'll definitely keep our eye's open for it.

"How did you hear about this map?" Asked George, his voice just a little strained.

"Oh," said Harry dismissively, turning to leave "my father and his friends made it when they were at school." He disappeared down the corridor, leaving the two Weasleys staring at each other in amazement. They bumped into each other as they scrambled towards the door, poking their heads out.

"We're in!" They called in unison to Harry's retreating back. He stopped but didn't look back.

"You're sure?"

"Positive!" Harry turned and the twins moved to join him, shaking both his hands at once to seal the deal. Harry grinned.

"Gentlemen, I have a feeling that the Slytherin reign of terror is about to come to an end."

"I think you might be right old boy." Agreed Fred.

"Now about that map you were talking about…" began George, putting an arm around Harry's shoulders and guiding him back into the classroom.

_A/N: So, there you have it, hopefully you all enjoyed it, please let me know what you thought. Hopefully you feel the fight at the start was fairly realistic, I don't want to have Harry an uber-powerful wizard just yet, as that would be boring, but he will be souped up later on. Also I have no idea how to write Hagrid's accent._

_For the next couple of chapters, there are going to be quite a few extra characters that will get involved with the Slytherin downfall, anyone who wants to feed either a personal favourite from the books that they feel deserves more face time, or one of their own, please PM me and I'll have a play. Ditto for anyone who's got any thoughts on pranks/relationships they want to see._

_YA_

_Notsoancientmariner._


	12. Chapter 12

_Hey folks, sorry for the wait, but here's Chapter 12, still no Beta, so any mistakes are my own and any volunteers, please get in touch. _

**Hogwarts**

It was Thursday afternoon and for Neville, the school day was finished. Professor Snape had kept him behind after class to berate him over another disastrous attempt at brewing potions. It really wasn't hard to imagine him in Death Eater's robe, torturing people. After all, the only change that would be required from his current activities would be the donning of a black cloak and a white mask.

For now though, Neville had other things on his mind. Hermione had disappeared almost immediately after the class and the rest of the students had made good their escape as soon as the gong sounded, while Harry was away receiving his personal lesson from Lord Black. Neville was alone. Well, except for the smiling faces of Draco and a half dozen Slytherins.

_Shit, shit, shit-shit-shit._ His inner voice sang to him. "What do you want, Malfoy?" Neville tried to keep the nerves from his voice and was pleasantly surprised to hear that his voice sounded relatively calm. Malfoy's grin widened.

"Where's your boyfriend, chubs?" Neville ignored the insults, wand dropping into his hand as he wondered how long he would be able to last against them. Malfoy's eyes flickered to the wand but didn't seem that bothered about it.

"Seven of us today, fat boy, and no back up for you… are you sure you want to fight us? It will go much quicker if you just put your wand down." Neville licked his lips nervously. He didn't know any particularly good hexes, and there was only so much they could do to him. Maybe it would just be better to give in.

_Fuck it._ He thought, flicking his wand "_Incarcerous!"_ he bellowed flicking his wand at Draco, who ducked. The spell flew over his head, clipping one of the other students as Neville turned, sprinting the other way. Howling like a pack of dogs, the Slytherins gave chase.

_I really should have done more exercise, _thought Neville ten minutes later, even his inner voice sounding breathless as his lungs screamed at him, legs feeling like they were made of jelly as he ran, puffing down the corridors, the sound of footsteps behind him urging him ever onwards. He had tried to cut towards the more regularly trafficked corridors only to be cut off at each turn by pairs of Slytherins and forced ever higher and away from everyone else. Now he was somewhere on the fourth floor, but he couldn't work out where, having completely lost his bearings during the chase. He dodged as a purple hair-growing hex flashed over his shoulder, cursing as turned to run again, barely able to suck in enough air for his burning lungs, let alone to cast a spell in return. _Not long before they catch me now._ Came the thought. He turned another corner. Dead end. _Fuck._ There was a slightly breathless chuckle behind him. He slowly turned around, wand held at his side, knowing he wouldn't be able to do much, or anything.

"Gotcha now, chubbs." It was Draco. _Of course it was Draco._ Three more students were behind him, breathing heavily but looking much more ready for a fight than Neville was himself.

"Fuck you Malfoy." Not very imaginative, but the best he could manage in his current state. He raised his wand to cast a shield, but before the first syllable was even out of his mouth, four beams of light hit him, throwing him backwards.

He tried to push himself up and failed, feeling his body trying to twist with pain as the hexes took effect. A body bind and a teeth lengthening, judging by his inability to move and the pain in his mouth, though the latter could have been from biting his tongue as he fell. He couldn't work any of the others out. His eyes flicked up to see Draco and Theo Nott sneering down at him.

"Now, a little message for your new friend…" Neville tuned him out as Draco rambled on about the 'right way of things' and the 'true order of the school', focusing instead on what was happening to his body, praying futilely for a sudden burst of accidental magic that might counter everything they had thrown at him and take them out at the same time. He would have laughed at the hopelessness of his situation, but he couldn't even do that. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad. Draco finished his monologue and Neville allowed himself to hope that it was over. Theo leaned down, glaring into his eyes. _Of course it's not over yet _his inner voice said despondently.

"I told you you wouldn't get away with it." The other boy sneered, slamming his fist into Neville's unprotected stomach. Every muscle screamed at him to curl into a ball and suck in as much air as possible but instead, he found himself held perfectly still by the body-bind. His breathing caught, gasping motionless on the floor, glaring his hatred up at his tormentors as they raised their wands at him. The last thing he saw was a worrying variety of spells heading towards him before everything went black.

/

Somewhere in Hogwarts, in a deserted classroom that hadn't been used in some time, most of the chairs and desks had been pushed to one side and covered with dust sheets. Three of the chairs however, had been pulled into the centre of the room, though only one was in use, a young boy straddling it backwards, leaning on the back and watching intently as an older man leant over the prone body of another young boy. With a grunt, the old man squatted back on his heels and gave the boy in the chair a small nod. The boy on the floor groaned.

Neville awoke to look into a face that, when he had last seen it, had threatened to have him dressed in Hermione's skin and framed for her murder. His girlish scream came out as a strangled squeak. Lord Arcturus Black turned to his adopted great-grandson.

"He's awake." The concern for his new friend disappeared from Harry's face, replaced with something much harder as he helped Neville to his feet, ushering him towards one of the chairs.

"Draco?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

"And a few others." Confirmed Neville, brushing off his robes and stretching, trying to work out what had been done to him, feeling remarkably… ok considering what he remembered from before.

"Body bind, teeth lengthening, hair growth… Merlin knows why people use that, two different boil hexes, jelly legs, a tickler to make you strain against the body bind and bruising indicative of a punch to the gut. We reversed them all and fortunately for you, we've just been studying healing and restorative draughts, so you should be right as rain by tomorrow morning." Lord Black answered the unasked question, voice carefully neutral as he assessed the boy before him. "What happened?"

Neville shrugged, giving an abridged version of the events. "Well sir, I was held behind after potions this afternoon, Draco - that's Draco Malfoy - and a few of the other Slytherins were waiting for me when I got out. I tried to run, but they kept cutting me off, and then… well then they caught me." He shrugged again "And then you found me." he finished unnecessarily.

"How many others?" Asked Harry.

"Er… six maybe?" Neville shrugged. "Didn't really take the time to count them, but Crabbe, Goyle, Nott… maybe two or three more? I couldn't say for sure about anyone else, but Millicent Bulstrode and Blaise Zabini were there at the start, so was Miles Bletchley from the year above."

"Hmm." Arcturus managed to express a remarkable amount of sentiment with the single sound. "This Draco, he is the boy you informed Sirius of?" He directed at Harry, who nodded in return. "Bit of a coward to go for one boy with six." Arcturus observed, earning a shrug from Neville and Harry.

"Standard practice, by all accounts - anyone goes against them gets smacked down in short order, big time." Harry explained, and Arcturus' expression turned grim his eyes narrowed as he looked between Neville and Harry, thinking hard for a long moment.

"Can you deal with this yourself?" he asked

"Of course." Replied Harry confidently and Neville stared at him in shock.

"Are you fucking… sorry sir, are you kidding me?! They have an entire house at their back, we're just two people!" Harry was still smiling, and Neville was pretty sure he'd never felt more like punching someone ever before.

"Oh please, I doubt they have the entire house, there must be some who don't get involved in the bullying. Besides, even if it is the entire house they're still only twenty-five percent of the school, so even if most of the rest of the students decide they want to stay neutral, we should still manage an even number of people who are willing to stand up to them." Harry explained matter of factly to Neville while Lord Black looked on "Besides, we happen to have an advantage."

Neville eventually managed to find his voice. He wasn't even sure he wanted to know the answer to the question. "What advantage would that be?"

"No one stands up to them, so they're used to running the school, right?" Neville nodded and Harry gave him that annoyingly confident grin that somehow encouraged him to believe that Harry might actually know what he was talking about and prompted a small, hopeful smile on Neville's own face. "They won't be expecting us to retaliate then will they, so we have the element of surprise." Or maybe he didn't. Neville's smile dropped from his face as he looked at his friend, who was apparently retarded.

"The reason no one retaliates" explained Neville calmly, "is because NO ONE IS THAT FUCKING STUPID!" he finished off at nearly a scream. "Sorry." He apologised again to Lord Black, who shrugged, and gave him a small, bemused smile, knowing what was most likely coming next.

"And don't you think it's about time someone changed that?" Harry asked. Once again Neville found himself nearly speechless. He opened his mouth a couple of times, closing it before any words came out. He tried looking at Arcturus for help, but the older Black just gave an amused smile and an encouraging nod.

_They're both insane._ Neville thought to himself. Harry was still smiling at him expectantly, and Neville realised that there was no way he was going to be able to talk Harry out of it. He sighed heavily. "We're going to have to start training harder, aren't we?" Harry nodded cheerfully, and Neville let out a whimper normally reserved for those people who have just been told that they are required to drink several particularly nasty smelling potions. "I hate you. I hate you so very, very much."

"That's the spirit!"

/

After Harry assured him that they would be safe, Arcturus left the two boys to make their own way back to Gryffindor tower. They stepped through the portrait and into the common room as Harry was explaining the finer points to winning a fight when the odds were stacked heavily against you and didn't realise that his audience had grown significantly

"... really the trick is to just fight as dirty as possible. And I mean really dirty, use whatever you can spells-wise…"

"Harry" Neville tried to call Harry's attention as the other boy climbed into the common room after him.

"OK, maybe not hair growing hexes, that's just stupid, but pretty much anything to distract them. And if you're close enough, don't be afraid to kick them in the balls."

"Harry…"

"I'm serious, I know as a guy I shouldn't advocate it, but I guarantee you, no one is going to hex you if you've just…" he looked up and realised that his entire house was watching him with curiosity, while they were both on the receiving end of a rather frosty look from Professor McGonagall "kicked them in the balls." He finished lamely.

There was a long, awkward silence.

"Thank you, Mr Black-Potter, for that advice." McGonagall commented dryly, waving at them to join the crowd of Gryffindors. With a small flash of guilt, Harry realised that they had been the only two that were missing. "As I was saying, it has been brought to the attention of the staff that there is a tendency within this school to turn a blind eye to the activities of some students and possibly the staff as well. I have called this meeting today, and similar ones are being held in all Houses, in part to apologise for allowing this to continue, but more importantly, to outline to all of you the school's anti-bullying policy."

"Any incidents of bullying, whether by a member of your own house or any other is to be reported to a member of staff, if you do not feel comfortable telling a teacher, speak to a prefect or speak to a friend and have them tell us. Remember, if you don't tell us about something, we can't help you." She smiled reassuringly at the newer students while the older ones cast skeptical glances at each other. "I would also" she continued "warn you against taking any sort of retaliatory action - this will only escalate the situation." Harry wasn't entirely sure, but he could have sworn that comment was directed at him. He raised a cautious hand. "Yes, Mr Black-Potter?"

"Are you telling us we aren't allowed to defend ourselves, Professor?" His question raised a dissatisfied grumble from the rest of the House - they were Gryffindors, after all.

"Absolutely not, defend yourselves of course, but I cannot condone escalatory attacks."

"What if they escalate first?" Pressed one of the twins. McGonagall stared around the worried faces, but before she could reply a voice called from the back:

"Do what Harry said!" There was a small titter of laughter and Harry once again found himself the focus of attention. He grinned and gave a small nod of his head in acknowledgment.

"Kick 'em in the balls!" He called loudly raising a fist into the air in defiance.

"Kick 'em in the balls!" Fred and George cried, leaping to their feet and pumping their own fists in the air.

A ragged cheer of "Kick 'em in the balls!" went around the room.

"Ahem!" McGonagall cleared her throat noisily calling back the attention of her House. "To avoid the need for escalation and in the pursuit of a happier school, there will be an 'anonymous box' in the passageway by the Great Hall - if you don't wish to tell anyone at all, a simple comment on a piece of parchment can be used to call attention to an incident. However, please do not be afraid to tell me, or any other member of staff, anything that causes you worry or concern. Would anyone wish to say anything now?" She looked around in part hope that they wouldn't be afraid to stand up, part fear that there would be something to report this early in the school year. She missed Neville taking a deep breath and moving to stand, only for him to be stilled by Harry's hand on his arm. "Very well then."

She moved to the portrait, hearing another ragged cry of "Kick 'em in the balls!" as it closed behind her.

Back in the common room, Fred and George made their way over towards Harry, dragging with them a grinning dark-skinned boy with dreadlocks.

"Fred, George." Harry nodded at them.

"Harry, Neville." Greeted Fred. Neville had a bad feeling about this.

"Harry, meet Lee Jordan, an eager recruit for our… enterprise." Lee and Harry shook hands, Harry's grin taking on a decidedly evil slant.

"Excellent." He whispered, placing the heels of his palms together and tapping his fingers together. Lee Jordan smirked as if recognising the gesture. Neville had a really bad feeling about this.

"So what are we going to do first?" asked Lee. Harry gave a quick glance around to make sure they weren't being listened in on as they took seats in a relatively quiet corner of the common room. Harry cast a discrete secrecy bubble around the small group.

"Huh, haven't seen that one." Commented Fred, curiosity raised. Harry smirked.

"Well for starters, we aren't doing anything first," He said, ignoring the comment on the secrecy bubble. The twins and Lee gave him a confused look and Harry held up a hand to forestall any complaints "they just attacked Neville, so it will be retaliatory." Neville blushed angrily at the sympathetic looks he was getting.

"There were six of them." He muttered in his defence. "Hang on, I thought we weren't supposed to escalate..." Harry shushed him dismissively. Neville looked around the small circle as the twins and Lee leaned forwards conspiratorially to listen to Harry's suggestion.

"Shouldn't we just report it to McGonagall, like she said to?" Neville tried tentatively. With a unison that seemed like it should have been practiced, all four heads turned towards him, looking at him with disgust as if he'd just suggested they ask to transfer into Slytherin so they could at least be on the winning team. "OK! Just a suggestion."

"Right, now the spells they used were a body bind, hair growing - and I'm not using that on principle - two types of boil hex, a jelly-legs and teeth lengthening." Began Harry.

"And a punch to the stomach while I was on the floor." Added Neville miserably, earning more sympathetic looks from the others.

"And a coward punch to the stomach while he was on the floor." Harry acknowledged, before continuing. "So I figured the nicest thing to do would be to return all of them. To all of them."

"We might have a couple of thoughts for that…" Offered George, but before he could continue, they were interrupted.

"Oh! You're talking about Gideon Splinter's Theory of Recurring Numbers!" The eager voice cut off their conversation and they all turned to stare at the intruder.

"What's up Hermione?" Harry's voice was carefully neutral as Hermione studiously ignored the hostile looks she was getting from the twins and Lee.

"Oh, I was just wondering if you were free for that talk…"

"No." Harry interrupted, turning back to the other boys and hoping she would take the not so subtle hint.

"Ok, but you do know that Splinter's Theory was…"

"Disproved in 1874 by Simon Tackledown. Yes. Was there anything else?" A slightly hurt look crossed Hermione's face and Harry felt a pang of guilt at excluding her. He quickly stamped down on it as she turned away. As soon as she was out of earshot he re-erected the privacy ward, turning to see everyone giving him very odd looks. "Oh, the ward changes what people hear - makes it seem like we're discussing a particularly boring piece of Arithmancy theorem. I'm pretty sure that's the only time someone's interrupted it." He added apologetically. "Now, about this payback, I'm thinking sooner is always better than later, but if we come within ten feet of any of them, they're going to suspect us, which means we might have to get some outside help - do you guys know anyone in any of the other houses who might be interested in joining the cause or do we need to wait?" Fred, George and Lee nodded thoughtfully.

"I can think of a few people in mind who might be interested." Said Lee cautiously.

"Yeah, there're a fair few who would be happy to help" agreed Fred "but in this instance I think we might have a better solution." Seeing he had spiked their curiosity, he leaned forward with an evil grin. "Have you ever tried bribing a House Elf?"

Neville's inner voice, which had been screaming at him to try and stop what was being planned, gave up and had a mental breakdown, spending the next twenty minutes rocking back and forth in a corner of his mind, weeping quietly to itself. Neville ignored it and concentrated on his impromptu lesson on the finer points of House-Elf manipulation. It really was quite fascinating.

/

By the end of Friday morning's classes, Harry decided that he had developed quite a soft spot for Professor Babbling, and it wasn't just because she was one of the younger members of staff and very easy on the eye; she was an incredibly enthusiastic teacher, managing to inject a significant amount of humour into her lessons and consequently Harry normally left her classes with a smile on his face. However the main reason he was praising her today was because she had announced that they would be partnering up for the year to complete a runic scheme of their own devising which Harry thought was particularly cool. The icing on the cake was that, in the pursuit of breaking down the boundaries imposed by House loyalties and rivalries, she had assigned them each their own partner, which is why Harry now found himself sat next to Daphne Greengrass and not next to Hermione, who he had the distinct impression would suck the fun out of pretty much anything.

"How good are you at Runes Potter?" Asked his new partner. He gave her his most charming smile.

"I've read up on them a little over the summer." He answered evasively "And by the way, it's Black-Potter."

"Huh." She responded to the first bit, gazing at him shrewdly, apparently ignoring the last bit, though any thoughts she had on this were interrupted by Professor Babbling's instructions.

"Now, with regards to your projects: They will count for forty per cent of your overall grades and will be due in the first week after the Easter holidays. They can be in pursuit of anything you like, completely original or based on a previous scheme. To give you some food for thought, previous projects have ranged from a defensive ward scheme for a home, to a homemade broomstick." Harry, and many of the other students, adopted thoughtful expressions, contemplating exactly where they could take this project. Professor Babbling smiled at the enthusiastic reception. "However, before you rush off to start your schemes straight away, I would recommend that you do not start work on anything until after the Christmas holidays" a look of horror crossed Hermione's face as she considered leaving anything to the last minute "between now and then, we will be covering the basic runic languages, how they interact with each other, carving instruments and materials, and common mistakes made both by past students and the wider runic community. This time will also give you the opportunity to become familiar with both runes and the partner you have been assigned and to discuss between the two of you what you want your scheme to do. The classes after Christmas will be allocated as time for creating your scheme, during which I will be available to answer any specific questions you have and provide pointers if you need them. In extreme circumstances, it will be possible to extend this project into your fourth year, however, this will require both my approval and the agreement of both partners, I would also expect to see progress proportionate to three months worth of work by Easter and a project that will provide appropriate challenge for over a years worth of work."

As the gong sounded and Harry gathered his books together he contemplated introducing Professor Babbling to Sirius, and then dismissed the idea as he didn't think that she deserved it, though when he glanced back at her and she caught his eye, giving a wink and a smile that prompted a blush to spread across his cheeks, he considered that she may well eat Sirius alive.

"Potter!" Hissed Daphne Greengrass angrily, calling his attention back to her.

"It's Black-Potter, and what?" She smirked at him, flicking her eyes towards their teacher at the front of the class.

"If you're quite done oggling the older women, I was saying that we should meet in the library at some point to work out how close we are in our understanding of runes." Harry gave her an odd look as they exited the classroom. "What?"

"Nothing… it's just… that sounded like something Hermione might say." She stopped and glared at him. She really was quite pretty, he thought, especially when her cheeks were red with anger.

"I am nothing like that." She snapped "I just want to make sure, _Potter_, that I don't have to carry you through this class."

"Ok, Ok, I'm sorry, you're nothing like her." He raised his hands in surrender and they walked on in silence for a bit. "When suits you to go through runes then?" He said by way of peace offering. She snorted at his clumsy attempt, tossing her hair over one shoulder.

"Tomorrow morning suit you, _Potter_?" She offered, a small smirk on her lips.

"It's… you're just doing it to wind me up now, aren't you?" She fought hard as the smirk threatened to turn into a smile.

"Is it working?" She asked without looking at him. He grinned broadly.

"Not really. See you tomorrow, Greengrass." She huffed, turning off towards the dungeons as Harry headed towards the tower.

Ten minutes later and he was heading down again, chatting merrily away with the twins, Neville and Lee, all of them eagerly looking forward to the show they had prepared for lunch. Harry made sure he had a seat facing out over the other tables, and specifically had a good view of the Slytherin table.

The first of their victims to arrive was Theo Nott, who smirked arrogantly at them, safe within a small crowd of his older house-mates.

"I'm going to enjoy this." Muttered Neville quietly to Harry.

"Enjoy what?" Asked Susan Shaw, taking a seat opposite them.

"Er…"

"The fish and chips." Lied Harry smoothly, pointing at Neville's plate and the poached salmon and the sautéed potatoes. Susan looked at it, casting a skeptical glance back at Harry before helping herself to a deep fried fillet of cod and proper chips. "He's been complaining that he's hungry all day." Harry added by way of clarification. Neville shrugged and motioned to it.

"It's good." He had surprised himself by actually liking it, Harry having him directed him towards the healthier option as part of his Get-Neville-Fit campaign.

"Uhuh." Said Susan, not buying it and not particularly caring either. "Well, if you will insist on going for a run first thing every morning, it's hardly surprising that you're working up an appetite." Further conversation was sacrificed in favour of eating, and Harry was just about to start up again when there was a cry from the far side of the room.

The vast majority of the students turned to stare, and as a result, missed the small smiles of satisfaction on the faces of five Gryffindors as Theo Nott jumped up, one hand to his mouth unable to cover the front teeth that were growing rapidly and showing no signs of stopping. A small ripple of laughter was cut off by several glares from the Slytherin table at anyone taking amusement from the suffering of one of their own. A fifth year prefect strode down the length of the table, grabbing Theo roughly and casting a _finite incantem_ point blank at his face. Harry could have sworn he could hear Theo's sigh of relief across the silent dining hall as the teeth began shrinking back to their proper size.

"There. All do…" The prefect's comment was cut off as Draco began laughing hysterically "What are you laughing at Malfoy?" Harry could just make out the boils that started erupting on Goyle's face before the room descended into chaos, six of the Slytherin's spontaneously coming down with various ailments that had relevance only to them and their victim of the previous evening.

Harry gave Neville a nudge.

"What?"

"Try not to look like you're enjoying it too much." Neville nodded and downgraded his grin from 'savage enjoyment' to 'regularly schadenfreudian' as Professor Snape strode through the throng of students to try and address the problem. Interestingly enough, each time they tried to counter one hex, another would take effect in a random pattern, so as soon as Theo Nott's teeth had stopped growing, his skin broke out in boils, and then he began hysterically laughing. After five minutes of shouting as they tried to gain control of the situation, with the rest of the school now ignoring any threatening looks and laughing openly at them, there was sudden silence from Slytherin table as all the hexes and curses suddenly cleared.

"Thank Merlin that's over…" Theo muttered, climbing onto the table.

Snape's desperately cast _finites _had no effect as the rest of the affected students also climbed onto the table before linking arms and kicking their legs into an awkward jig, the expressions of horror on their faces not stopping them from singing out to the dining table.

"We're the Slytherins and we Rule,

Our House owns this stupid school!

Draco's bullied you chumps for the last two years,

He just loves it, when he sees your tears.

Don't try to pass us, we're sore losers,

If you beat us we'll cover you with bruises.

Just ask Tom Packson about a spilled beaker -

We were helped along by our pet Death Ea..."

"Enough!" Came Dumbledore's furious shout from the top table, cutting them off. The entire student body felt a pulse of magic emanating from the elderly wizard that stopped the song and dance act in its tracks.

There was a shocked silence and the entire school stared at the six in horrified amazement.

"Get. Down." Snape's angry whisper could be heard even by the Gryffindors on the far side of the hall and the only noise was of the six students scrambling off the table to stand abashed in front of him. "Follow." With a swirl of his cape, the potions professor whirled on his heel and left the Hall, face thunderous, a trail of very miserable looking students following in his wake.

A roaring babble of conversation broke out as soon as he had left. Harry could see McGonagall having a furiously whispered and apparently one-sided conversation with the Headmaster, who was apparently ignoring her, his gaze playing ping-pong between the departing Slytherins and Harry.

/

Twenty minutes later, Harry was once again in the Headmaster's Office. Professor McGonagall had carefully controlled her face and was watching him with a decidedly guarded expression from one side of the headmaster, while Snape glared at him with open hostility from the other. Dumbledore himself was sat behind his desk and observing him over the top of his glasses. He was not the only student there, however. This time, Neville was stood to one side of him and looking very nervous, the twins and Lee were on the other side, doing a much better job of controlling their emotions.

"Well, Misters Weasley. Mr Lee. Mr Longbottom. Mr Pot - _Black_-Potter" Began Dumbledore softly, correcting himself half-way through. He paused as if trying to decide where to start. "Lemon drop?" Harry remembered his experience from Tuesday morning.

"No." He replied levelly. "Thank you." The headmaster smiled at him, eyes twinkling over his glasses at the boy who stood before him, the others following his example and politely declined the offer of a sweet.

"The reason you have been called before is that, having consulted our unfortunately afflicted comrades from Slytherin's House, the finger has been pointed at you gentlemen as the responsible party for today's… prank."

"Prank?" Hissed Professor Snape, his disgust clear. "That was targeted bullying and tantamount to poisoning, against the scions of two noble houses and some very influential families. These boys should be expelled." He added with a sneer.

"Expulsion is a little severe, I think…" Began Dumbledore.

"Excuse me Headmaster, but are you saying we have been found guilty of these charges?" Asked Fred.

"If so, we should praise the speed of your investigation." Added George.

"Though we would like to see any and all evidence in order to combat this…" Lee Jordan trailed off, searching for the right words.

"Baseless lie?" Offered George.

"Unfounded accusation?" Provided Fred.

"Complete pile of bollocks?" Tried Harry.

Neville gulped nervously and Snape pinned him with a glare, silently sending out a probe of legillimency towards the weakest member of the group. Harry stepped forward, placing himself neatly between the professor and the terrified student.

"Tell me, Headmaster," he began smoothly "what would be the consequences of a teacher, say… a head of house, practicing legillimency against a student without the expressed permission of that boy's parent or legal guardian?"

"Now, Harry…" Dumbledore began, giving his best grandfatherly smile.

"The teacher would be fired. On the spot." McGonagall interrupted, glaring across the room at Snape before focusing on Harry, who gave her a small smile in return.

"And what would happen if this student also happened to be the scion of a Noble and Ancient House, and that House wished to press charges?" There was a short pause and Harry could almost convince himself he had heard Snape swallow nervously.

"They'd win." Contributed Lee Jordan, whose mother was a lawyer and the reason Lee considered himself an expert on most things legal. "Probably quite easily, which means the teacher would either have to pay a significant fine or go to prison."

Dumbledore cut off Snape's angry response with a forced chuckle. "Now now, there's no need for threats, either of expulsion or of legal action, we have merely asked you here today to see if you knew anything about what happened today at lunch. As you quite rightly pointed out, there has been no investigation, and so we have only the word of another student to go on so far…"

"Headmaster..." Snape's protest was cut off with a small wave from Albus Dumbledore, who didn't take his eyes from the students.

"...and a one off incident such as this can be assumed to be a prank and dealt with by detention as opposed to expulsion. Wouldn't you agree Professor McGonagall?"

"Actually, Headmaster, I believe that without any evidence, we cannot punish them at all." Harry could almost swear her lips were twitching with amusement, but then it could also have been irritation.

"Ah, indeed."

"This is ridiculous!" Growled Snape, face twisting with rage "You can't seriously be letting them get away with this?"

"Until you have something other than hearsay and innuendo, they aren't getting away with anything." Responded the Headmaster genially. He smiled back at the boys, who were doing their best not to look completely stunned at the outcome. "You may go boys, my apologies for wasting your time."

Neville was trembling by the time they made it to the bottom of the stairs and had to sit down before they went any further, even the twins and Lee seemed surprised that they had apparently gotten away scott free. Harry grinned at them and started making his slow way back towards Gryffindor tower.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Fred shouted after him.

"To find a dictionary so I can look up innuendo." Harry turned back to them, still grinning away as he waggled his eyebrows at them "If you know what I mean."

/

**Just after Friday's Wizengamot Session, Ministry of Magic.**

Sirius pushed his fists into the small of his back, stretching first backwards and then to either side, prompting several clicks and pops. He sighed with contentment.

"Better." Catching the annoyed look he was getting from Remus and a distracted look from Arcturus, he flashed them an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I mean, I get why you wanted me there, and I'm happy to go along as a show of support for Remus and all... but that had to have been one of the most boring sessions of the Wizengamot there has ever been." He finished with a rush.

The final hour and a half had been a discussion of alterations to the Control of Magical Creatures Law. Arcturus had provided them with the details of the session from the previous summer, during which a change to the magical law had been pushed through that would allow magical creatures to claim sanctuary under the banner of a noble house. The findings presented today provided further detail on the classification of the magical creatures that would be subject to the law and also called for a vote on the suggested amendments.

A scholarly looking wizard named Euan Rossier had stood up to address the assembly in a low monotonous voice that had droned on for some time, sending a large number of the gathered council to sleep. Sirius had started out listening intently, however after ten minutes of references to property law and animal attacks, he had drifted off, occasionally tuning back in to hear parts of it that seemed barely in English, they were so wrapped up in legal speak. When the presentation had finished, Sirius had turned to his grandfather and seen an annoyed expression clear on his face, which in itself was quite something considering Lord Black normally had exceptional control of the emotions he displayed. When the vote on the proposed modification to the laws had been announced, Arcturus had stood to indicate his dissatisfaction with the laws.

Sirius had tried to listen more closely as Arcturus had talked of reaching forwards to the new century, leaving the darkness of the previous wars behind them and encouraging a more enlightened view of those suffering from lycanthropy, vampirism and other similar afflictions. He had almost allowed himself to believe that Arcturus might have swayed enough people to counter whatever restrictions had been imposed, when Lucius Malfoy stood to argue in support of the proposed changes.

As much as he hated him for being a Death Eater, Sirius couldn't deny the fact that Lucius was a talented public speaker, injecting what appeared to be enthusiasm and passion into what had been a nearly comatosed council chamber. In the end, the vote had gone in favour of the proposed changes, with those in favour of the proposed law winning with seventy three percent of the votes.

"I can't believe it!" Huffed Remus dejectedly as they made their way through the Ministry. "I mean, I know that everyone thinks we're uncontrollable animals, but I had so hoped that we might finally be getting towards a slightly more enlightened attitude in this country." He gave a weak smile at Sirius' conciliatory pat to the shoulder. "I mean to insist on a _branding_ if I want the protection of a family, as if it wasn't degrading enough to be classified as a pet already."

"Wait, what?" Sirius asked confused. "Sorry, I must have… uh… missed the bit about a branding." Remus huffed again and Arcturus snorted in amusement.

"It was probably while you were snoring away in the corner."

"I wasn't snoring!" Sirius defended himself indignantly.

"I had to put up a silencing charm." Remus shot back, a little disappointed that his best friend couldn't stay awake throughout the discussion on the legislation that was going to have such a significant effect on him.

"Oh, um sorry." They continued walking in a semi-awkward silence until Sirius stopped at a side passage, the other two turned to look at him questions clear on their faces. "Yeah, um… sorry again. I have an interview."

"An interview?" Arcturus queried.

"For what?" Remus chipped in, his curiosity outweighing his irritation.

"Um… a job." Sirius answered rubbing his neck awkwardly. He gave a small smile at the looks on their faces and turned quickly away before they could ask him any more questions. "Gotta go, see you later, wish me luck!" He called over his shoulder at them.

"Find us in the Cauldron!" Arcturus called at his retreating back. He turned to the dejected werewolf, staring after his friend heading towards a job interview he knew in all likely-hood, he would never even be able to apply for. "Come on Remy, let's get a drink, you look like you could use one."

Three and a half hours later, Sirius made his way into the Leaky Cauldron. He blinked his eyes against the change in the light from outside and, spotting Remus and Arcturus sat at an isolated table at the back, moved to join them. He waved to Tom for another round for the table and sat down with a sigh.

"How did it go?" Asked Remus, voice still miserable from the outcome of the afternoon, staring into the bottom of his glass and gratefully accepting the arrival of a new one with significantly more fire-whisky in it.

"And what was it?" Added Arcturus. Sirius grinned and thanked Tom the barman for Remus' whisky and his and Arcturus' pints of dark ale, waiting until he was far enough away before erecting one of the most advanced privacy bubbles known to magic. Arcturus raised his eyebrows at the level of secrecy that Sirius apparently deemed necessary for the revelation, and even Remus in his alcohol numbed state seemed to perk up a bit.

"Well, how much do you know about what I did before I disappeared with Harry and Remus?" Sirius countered with his own question. Arcturus leaned back, eyes narrowed as he looked back at his grandson.

"Graduated Hogwarts Summer '78, entered Auror training in September of the same; top marks in Interrogation, Survival Skills and Self Defence, top five in Magical Forensics and Legal Understanding and Language Aptitude, Runic Manipulation passing out in December; streamlined for Special Branch and First Response teams." Sirius nodded.

"And after training?" Arcturus pursed his lips, remembering his confusion at the time and the efforts he had gone to to work out what was going on with his grandson's career. Remus found himself paying attention as well - He had known that Sirius worked in a particular dangerous part of law enforcement, but even in the years they had spent in hiding with each other, he had spoken little on what he had done before hand, instead focusing on plans for the future.

"Not much…" the older Black began slowly "there was one report from a mission you conducted about eight months later with Special Branch. Heavily redacted, but from what I understand, there was an... incident with a group of dark wizards, identities were never revealed, but the confrontation resulted in the death of an agent and six others, and the Dementor's Kiss for two more." Sirius nodded, expression grim. Arcturus sighed heavily "After that, regardless of who I asked or the influence I tried to bring to bear through official and unofficial sources, I wasn't able to see any files relating to you or any missions you took part in and was soon informed that if I continued to try and press for information on you that I would be prosecuted and most likely find myself in prison and subject to severe financial and legal penalties should I ever be released." He cast a hopeful look towards Sirius in search of answers. His grandson sighed and fidgeted with his almost finished pint. Apparently reaching a decision he knocked the rest of it back and stood.

"Come on, what I'm about to tell you is best said at home." Arcturus left his half finished pint, while Remus gulped the last of his whisky and stood, making their way to the Floo as soon as Arcturus had settled the tab.

A short while later, they were back at the Black country mansion in front of a roaring fire, a bottle of muggle whisky describing itself as 'Old Pultney - 12 years old' on the table between them. Sirius ignored the impatient looks on their faces as he poured generous measures out for all of them, taking a sip and savouring the soft warmth as the liquid worked its way down and settled in his chest. He had raised further eyebrows by casting anti-listening and additional privacy and secrecy wards as soon as they had arrived, before settling into an armchair. He sat back and rolled the glass around in his hand, enjoying the patterns the whisky left on the glass. A soft cough from Remus called his attention back to his audience. He sighed and took a small sip.

"What I am about to tell you remains classified, and the only reason I can tell you about it is because you have both given me vows of loyalty not to reveal anything that could damage myself or my family. Also, everyone else involved is dead, negating the vows we took at the time and I doubt much of a paper trail has been left, though any records that are still around will remain highly classified for at least another fifty years." Remus and Arcturus shifted slightly in their seats as they considered the severity of the incident that would prompt such secrecy. Sirius' eyes went distant as he cast his mind back nearly fifteen years, heaving another heavy, sad, sigh. "That incident was one of the first known successes of the war, but resulted in the death of my trainer - Simon Scarthick. Good man. Great man. Taught Moody a few tricks by all accounts." His audience's eyebrows rose to their hair lines at the revelations as Sirius took a fortifying sip before continuing, trying hard for clinical detachment even after all this time.

"Simon and I received a call to an ongoing attack by seven Death Eaters attacking a muggle family during the early days of the war. We were able to save the daughter, but the rest died. Particularly nastily - the ringleader had the father under the _Imperius_ and had him eating the hearts of his wife and son after cutting them out of their chests while they were still alive. Each of the family were forced to watch as their father or husband killed their family, knowing it was going to happen to them afterwards." Arcturus and Remus paled in horror and Sirius shivered at the memory. "We called it in and were told to wait for backup." He coughed and rubbed a tired hand over his face before giving a sad smile. "Simon told me to wait back while he went in alone but I refused and we both went in. The first two Death Eaters we took down pretty quick - they received the Dementor's Kiss and died shortly after - but after that we were still five against two. Simon took on the ringleader and two others leaving me to deal with the other two." He took a deep breath and another mouthful of his drink. "They died." He said, not going in to any further detail "Simon killed the ringleader, but by the time I was in a position to help him with the other two, one of them had cast the Killing Curse and he was gone" he snapped his fingers "just like that. I figured I was next. Nearly was" He mused sadly "Then the dad, realised what had happened and pretty much insane, tackled one of them, took an AK in the process." He sighed heavily "And then the backup arrived. The two survivors escaped." He took another swig, emptying his glass, leaning forwards for a refill as he shook his head ruefully "Never did work out who they were." He shook himself in a manner remarkably similar to his Padfoot form and gave a weak smile.

"Anyway, based on the memory I submitted of the incident and Simon's reports on my training up until that point, I was offered a position within a new sub-department of the Unspeakables. Our primary role was to take the war to the enemy, ideally before they had a chance to strike against us or innocents, prosecuting with extreme prejudice." Arcturus and Remus stared at him in horrified fascination as Sirius continued. "I worked for them for about three years, and damn, but we were good. _I _was good. One of the best, in fact." Remus tried to take a gulp of his whisky, not realising he had already finished and put his glass down.

"What happened?" He asked softly. Sirius gave a genuine smile at the memory.

"Harry." He replied simply.

"And you're taking this job back?" Clarified Arcturus skepticism clear on his face.

"Yep!" Sirius clarified with a cheerful smile. "What?" He looked at the horrified expressions on the face of his best friend and grandfather.

"You're taking a job as a _hitman_?!" Remus' voice went up to a screech at the end.

"We prefer the term Specialist, but yes." Confirmed Sirius.

"Are you serious?!" Arcturus' voice rising almost as high as Remus'.

"Yes, I'm also deadly serious." Answered Sirius with a grin as he reached for drink. Arcturus and Remus glared at him, and not only for the awful timing of his joke. Sirius sighed, placing his glass back down. "Before you think I've gone crazy, hear me out. Firstly, the training is exceptional and while I will have to go back through some of it, I imagine the work we've done with Mr Smith and Sam and the HSG guys will have stopped me losing my edge completely and I'll be back working full-time by early next year. Any way, it will help should there be any further attacks on Harry." Arcturus and Remus nodded, accepting the logic if not necessarily approving. "Secondly, who do you think is leading the hunt for Bella and Peter at the moment?" They stared at him for a while.

"Wait a moment," Arcturus interjected as the first to find his voice "if you are, or rather were, this highly trained hit-wizard, how come we've both beaten you during training? Merlin, even Harry's won against you a couple of times." Sirius gave a sheepish smile.

"Well a little bit is because I'm rusty" the other two smirked at him in triumph but then he shrugged "mostly though, I've been going easy on you."

Arcturus gave him a very calculating look before sliding his eyes across to Remus. The werewolf thought for a fraction of a second before giving a barely perceptible nod and they both went for their wands. Before they could even clear their holsters, Sirius left hand snapped out, grabbing Remus' wrist, pulling and twisting it as his left leg snapped out, breaking the front left chair-leg of his friend's chair and dropping Remus to his knees, putting more pressure on the wrist lock and dropping Remus' wand into Sirius' lap. Simultaneously, he silently banished an empty glass at Arcturus, who slapped it out of the way only to take an _Expeliarmus_ to the face delivered with enough force to flip Arcturus and his chair over backwards and send his wand flying, to be caught deftly by Sirius, who had remained seated throughout. He shrugged at their startled looks, standing to return their wands and help them to their feet and casting a quick _Reparo_ to Remus' chair.

"Oh, Remus, they also offered you a job." Remus, who had just taken a fortifying gulp, promptly sprayed fire-whisky across the table. Sirius gave an evil smirk at the reaction "You'd probably have to be under the full protection of the House of Black though." Remus coughed away the last of his whisky and slumped back in his chair, reminded of what had caused his previous bad mood.

"Fucking branding law. Makes me feel like I'm a piece of cattle." He complained bitterly.

"Yes, it was rather close, wasn't it." Arcturus noted idly, staring into the fire.

"Close?!" Asked Remus, righteous indignation in his voice as he lept to his feet. "Seventy-three percent in favour of a law that says if I want the protection of a House, I have to take their mark like some sort of animal!" Arcturus stared at him in surprise at his reaction.

"He does kind of have a point." Sirius pointed out "That law is particularly… restrictive for magical creatures." There was a long pause as Arcturus gave them both a look of disappointment.

"Neither of you actually listened to those propositions did you?" His voice held just a hint of accusation in it. Sirius smiled happily as he shook his head, while Remus continued to glare at him. He sighed exasperatedly and began to explain it as if to children. Really stupid children. "The law states that Magical Creatures, including those such as werewolves and vampires who were infected or bitten, have fewer rights than wizards or witches, check?" Remus nodded irritably, folding his arms across his chest, while Sirius leant forwards, wondering where this was going. "Now, in order for those who have been infected to achieve anything like a chance in the world, they must have the protection of a Noble and Ancient House or other similar patron. Still with me?" He looked up at them.

"Yes, we were there" huffed Remus irritably. "To designate that protection, a magical creature must bear the mark of the sponsoring house, the sponsoring house then bears responsibility for the action of those creatures including but not limited to, loss or damage of life or property."

"Good, you were listening!" Arcturus said cheerfully leaning back into his chair and smiling out at them. They continued to look at him as if he had gone crazy. He sighed tiredly. "But apparently you're both idiots. Do you remember what the law states, exactly, about the magical branding?" Remus and Sirius both shook their heads to the negative, but Remus' curiosity was sufficiently raised that he sat down and poured another round of gratefully received drinks as Arcturus proceeded to quote the law verbatim, a small smile on his face "Any creature, including but not limited to, werewolves, vampires, or similar afflictions identified henceforth as 'the creature', may willingly enter into an agreement with another party be it Noble House or Notable Individual as recognised by this body, identified henceforth as 'the party', if said party willingly accepts responsibility for said creature and their actions. The party becomes responsible for any damage or destruction to people or property enacted by the creature and liable for repayment as deemed appropriate by this body. The creature is then entitled to seek employment as appropriate to their condition in order to provide suitable remuneration for any damage caused with the backing of the party with all wages being paid to the party in trust, however the creature forfeits all rights to property and public office. For the creature to claim this right under law they must bear the mark of the party; any creature bearing the mark of the party will be deemed the responsibility of said party and will be considered without exception as such under this law..." He trailed off and looked at them hopefully.

"I'm not getting a tattoo of the Black family crest." Remus stated, head in his hands. "Fiona would go spare." Sirius was still confused and shrugged helplessly at his grandfather, who rolled his eyes and carried on with the explanation.

"Anyone who willingly enters into an agreement and takes a mark?" Tried Arcturus hopefully. Remus' body tensed and his head slowly rose to stare incredulously at the older man.

"You didn't." His expression changed from self-pity to horrified amazement. Arcturus gave a small smile.

"Who's the greatest prankster you've ever known?" He asked, as Sirius looked between the two of them and shrugged.

"Dunno, who?"

"He is." Whispered Remus softly, still unable to take his eyes from Arcturus and completely missing Sirius' confused look at them both. "He just got Lucius Malfoy to vote through a law that designates him, and all other marked Death Eaters, as Magical Creatures because they willingly took the Dark Mark." Sirius' jaw dropped open and he slowly turned towards Arcturus who toasted them with his glass of whisky and allowed his small smile to widen infinitesimally.

"And you finally get it." He allowed himself a small chuckle as he contemplated his own victory. "The best part, of course, is that they can't even contest it for another five years, because the law was passed with a majority of over seventy per cent in favour and the session was over ninety per cent full." Remus and Sirius were both still staring at him in amazement. He looked at them both and gave another small chuckle. "Rather inspired, if I do say so myself." Arcturus' smile broadened into a grin as he realised they were still stunned at the law that had just been passed, and then a flash of annoyance went across his face. "Oh do close your mouth Sirius, you look like an oik."

_A/N: A couple of closing points to cover the guest reviews, though this wont be normal practice:_

_1) Harry went to the muggle dentists because he was staying with muggles at the time (Isaac's parents), thought I'd made that clear but I guess not. And yes, magic is much superior to muggle medicine. It's magic._

_2) While I don't have anything particularly nasty planned at present, I make no promises as to the future. The whole Slytherin war thing will continue for a while though, so let's see how that pans out._

_3) To those of you who are of drinking age in whichever country you're in and whisky fans, I thoroughly recommend Old Pultney. It's amazing._

_Lastly, chapter 13 is at about 5,000 words at the moment and counting, so should be up soon I hope, and as always, please let me know your thoughts._

_YA _

_Notsoancientmariner._


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: Told you it would be up soon. The answers to the questions people had on the legislation passed in Ch 12 should be answered in the next couple of chapters, though not this one, which takes place exclusively at Hogwarts. Enjoy!_

**Saturday morning, first weekend of term**

Harry was sat in one of the more comfortable chairs in the library around a low coffee table, arranged for groups students to use when discussing class work, a collection of books on ancient and a few more modern runes arranged by language to one side. He smiled, enjoying the warming pool of sunlight from the large windows, re-reading the letter he had received from Victoria that morning. The smile dropped from his face as the letter was plucked deftly from his fingers and he glared up at the new arrival.

"You're early." Stated Daphne Greengrass, dropping her bag by one of the empty chairs and skimming through the letter in her hand. "Why aren't you wearing robes?" She asked, ignoring Harry's glare and hand outstretched for the letter, waving absently at his outfit of jeans and a t-shirt.

"I'm not early, you're late," he growled in reply "it's too hot for robes and these are more comfortable. If you're _quite_ done reading my personal mail?" Daphne smirked as she handed the letter back, Harry folding it carefully and tucking it into his pocket.

"Girlfriend?" She asked, meeting Harry's glare with an innocent smile. He took a couple of measured breaths and smoothed his features over, allowing himself a small smile at the thought of Victoria.

"Yes" he replied. Daphne sniffed.

"Muggle?" She asked accusingly. Harry gave her a measured look and his face became much more guarded.

"Not that it matters, but yes."

"Huh." She shrugged and reached into her bag to pull out a clipped together stack of parchments covered in notes on runes and a quill, along with a few additional texts that weren't already in Harry's stacks.

"You have something to say about my choice in women?" Asked Harry defensively.

"Not really, I was just wondering how you'd managed to get mail to and from her without using owls, which I imagine would be a bit hard to explain." Harry flushed, mildly embarrassed at having immediately jumped on the defensive.

"Oh… um… we relay them through my grandfather's muggle businesses." Harry explained awkwardly. "She thinks I'm in witness protection after the thing with Bellatrix and Peter last year."

"How very James Bond." She commented abstractedly, reaching for the basic text on runes the had been assigned at the start of the year and completely missing Harry's momentary shock at the muggle reference coming from a pureblood. She tucked a stray lock of hair behind one ear and turned back to Harry, piercing him with blue-gray eyes. "But nothing to do with Runes. Shall we?"

"Let's." Agreed Harry, pulling his own notes towards him. "So I've got the Runes we're using this year nailed, and a pretty decent understanding of Blishen's Basic Theory of Runic-relation. I've also got a pretty decent understanding of the basic Russian, Nordic, and Celtic Runes, though my Celtic are best and Arcturus - that's my grandfather - had me do a whole study last year on the inter-relation of different languages into the same ward-schemes…"

"Did you look at Spoerwitz's _Multi-Language Warding_?" Interrupted Daphne, pulling out a copy of the heavy tome from her book bag and handing it over.

"No, I used a translation of Kleiper's Expedition study instead." Harry replied, and waved absent-mindedly towards one of the stacks of books as he flipped through the thick book. She reached forwards and began flipping through a much smaller book that held the study Harry had mentioned. They drifted into silence as each of them skimmed through the initial pages of the texts. "This is good… a little dry, but good." Harry commented

"Hmm…" Daphne replied distractedly, turning a page "I'm surprised you didn't use it to be honest, it's where most people start. Oooh, I like the examples he uses here on back to back defensive runes for his campsite. I can see why you used this one instead now, it's written almost like a story of how he learned to use runes on his expeditions. I think Spoerwitz probably has it in more depth, but..."

"Yeah," agreed Harry with a grin "Klieper's much easier to understand." She smiled back at him.

"Swap?" She asked.

"Sounds good. So where abouts have you gotten to with your studies?" They each placed the texts to one side and spent the next several hours continuing with their discussion on how well they knew the subject, probing each other for weaknesses in their understanding before descending into a study session, looking through the various texts and pointing out interesting schemes or runes to each other.

Just as Harry was reaching for a book on basic Icelandic runes, he felt the tingling that signaled Victoria was thinking of him and holding the locket, letting his occlumency relax a little to let the connection through. He smiled at the image he had: her and their group of friends gathered together at the park where they had spent so much of the previous summer.

"Oi, Potter!" The call and a slap on his arm bought him jarring back to his surroundings.

"Oh, um… sorry," Harry mumbled his apology and handed Daphne the book she was pointing at "miles away."

"Thinking of the girlfriend?" She asked teasingly, eyes dancing in amusement.

He blushed slightly, nodding as he buried his nose back in the book.

"It's so unfair" huffed Daphne lightly "I'm right here and you're spending the entire time wishing you were somewhere else with some other girl… I had no idea I was so ugly." She sighed despondently and Harry stammered his embarrassment.

"Oh no, you… you're beautiful, it's just..." He narrowed his eyes at her as her hurt expression turned into a mocking smile "you're taking the piss aren't you." She nodded and leaned forwards, resting her chin on one hand and fluttering her eyelashes at him.

"You think I'm beautiful." She let out a light tinkling laugh as Harry's face turned bright red and he slumped back in his chair, hiding his face with his book.

"Fuck you, Greengrass." She smirked and settled back with her own text.

"Oh we're too young for that" she said, trying to avoid laughing out loud as she teased him further "besides, wouldn't your girlfriend have something to say about that?"

"I hate you." Harry muttered.

"Oh, shut up and read your book, lover-boy." They continue in companionable silence until Harry looked at his watch and shut his book, dropping it onto the table with a thump. Daphne looked up at him in irritation.

"Lunch?" Harry asked, and she glanced at her own watch, eyes widening in surprise at how quickly the time had passed, colouring slightly as her stomach rumbled loudly. "I'll take that as a yes." Harry commented with a smirk and began packing the books away. As they exited past the scattering of students Daphne found herself smiling again.

"What?" Asked Harry as they left.

"What?"

"Don't you 'what?' me, Greengrass, what are you smirking at?" Harry demanded. Her smirk spread wider and she gave him an approving look from head to toe.

"I think you might have been distracting some of our female students with your attire."

"What?!" Asked Harry, a combination of shock and horror driving his voice up at the end.

"Now who's what-ing who, Potter? Don't tell me you missed those girls drooling over you in there." She waved back in the direction of the library. Harry glanced nervously over his shoulder. "Oh relax, they aren't stalking you. Yet. Must be something to do with those bulging muscles of yours and those brooding good looks might have caught a few eyes." She teased, squeezing his arm and cooing appreciatively even as he snatched it away and blushed furiously.

"I don't have bulging… or brooding…" Daphne chuckled away beside him as he stuttered out his protests. "Ah, shut up." He snapped at her, producing another tinkling laugh and a light shove on the arm.

"Relax, Potter, most guys would appreciate the attention."

"I have a girlfriend!" He protested with a wail as they made their way towards the Great Hall. Daphne gave up and let out a very unladylike snort of laughter.

"I don't think they care." She chortled as they parted ways, her heading for the Slytherin tables and he for the Gryffindor. "Catch you in a bit, Potter."

Harry was still grumbling as he sat down for lunch with Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas.

"What's up with you?" Asked Seamus, eyeing the newcomer.

"Oh nothing… it's just something Daphne said earlier." He waved it off dismissively. "What have you guys been up to?"

"Greengrass? But she's a Slytherin!" Protested Seamus quietly.

"Yeah, but a hot one." Noted Dean prompting his friend to nod in concession. "So how about it Harry, are you trying to _slither-in_?" He waggled his eyebrows and Seamus groaned at the awful joke while Harry choked on a mouthful of soup.

"I have a girlfriend." He stated as he wiped away the tears from his eyes. Dean and Seamus continued to look at him, not accepting this as an answer. Harry sighed "No, I'm not trying it on." They gave him knowing looks and Dean tapped the side of his nose conspiratorially.

"Course not." Agreed Seamus with a wink and Harry rolled his eyes.

"Can we talk about something else please? What are you guys doing this afternoon?"

"Dean's going to try and convince us, again, that football is as good, if not better, than quidditch." Seamus said, still smirking at Harry's discomfort. He brightened at the idea.

"Cool, a kick-about?" Asked Harry at Dean, who grinned and nodded in confirmation. "Mind if I join you?"

"A what-a-what?" Asked Seamus in confusion, looking between the two of them. Dean wrapped an arm around his friend's shoulders and leaned in close.

"Mate, you are about to get an education in The Beautiful Game." Harry returned the grin and wiped the last of his soup up with a piece of bread. "We'll round up a few of the others and see about a quick game of five-a-side, but even if no one else fancies it, we can do a quick two-on-one. Sound good Harry?"

"Yep," Harry nodded cheerfully as he stood from the table "give me five minutes to dump my bag and I'll and catch you outside."

It was ten minutes later that Harry, Seamus and Dean were outside in the sun, discarded robes acting as goal posts as they passed around Dean's treasured muggle football. In short order they were joined by some of the other muggle-born students and the game slowly developed into a five-a-side, then seven-a-side, then a chaotic kick around with the occasional break to explain the rules to those who had grown up in wizarding society and had no idea what was going on.

It didn't take long from there before a small crowd of students had gathered, enjoying the good weather and indulging their curiosity in the game that had no broomsticks, no obvious magic, and some really confusing rule about 'off-side' that apparently no one understood. Harry had just decided it was time for him to take a breather when it happened.

A loud thunk was shortly followed by a scream of pain and gasps of shock from players and spectators alike. Harry rushed over and pushed his way through the gathered students, to find a moaning Daniel Skeens on the floor, clutching his leg in pain, his ankle twisted in a very unnatural manner.

"What happened?" Demanded Harry, glaring around the stunned audience, the innocent entertainment gone in the blink of an eye.

"Owwwwwww!" Wailed the injured first year.

"The ball…" Stammered one of the other first years who had joined in the game. "He just went to kick the ball and then fell over and..." The boy waved his hand helplessly to indicate what had happened. Harry spotted the ball sitting innocently a few feet away.

"Chuck it here." He demanded of the nearest student, who went to give it a gentle tap with his shoe only for the ball not to move. A confused look spread across the boy's face and he tried pushing it harder to no avail. He crouched to pick it up, straining against it with as much success as if he were trying to lift a boulder ten times the size before looking up at Harry and shrugging helplessly.

A burst of laughter attracted their attention just as Madam Hooch arrived and pushed her way through the students. Harry glared past her at the retreating backs of several students, still wearing their robes despite the heat of the afternoon and the common trend of everyone else to wear casual clothes, all of them trimmed with the Slytherin colours.

"What happened?" Asked the teacher, crouching next to Daniel and casting a quick numbing charm on his leg.

"We were having a kick around," explained Harry quickly "someone transfigured the ball just as Daniel was about to kick it and…" he shrugged. Madam Hooch nodded, lips pressed into a thin line.

"Did you see who it was?" She asked, looking at Harry first and then around at the rest of the crowd "Did anyone?" There was a muttering and a collected shake of heads.

"I didn't see it, but I can tell you who it was." Harry said, and found himself pinned by a very serious stare from the teacher.

"Mr Potter" she said quietly after a moment "I am going to ask you this once more, and I want you to think of your answer before you give it to me, understood?" He nodded. "Did you _see_ who did this?"

"No, miss." She sighed, looking around the rest of the group and receiving further negative answers.

"No." She straightened up, a disappointed expression on her face as she looked over the rest of the students "Unless someone saw who cast the spell, we cannot punish the person responsible…" She was cut off by a moan from Daniel, who was still lying prone on the grass at her feet "Mr Potter, please take Mr…"

"Skeens," provided Harry "Daniel Skeens."

"Thank you, please take Mr Skeens to the infirmary." Harry nodded and levitated Daniel.

"Oh, and Miss Hooch?"

"It's Madam Hooch, please Mr Potter." Corrected Madam Hooch and Harry gave her a winning smile back.

"I'm sorry, Madam Hooch. I was just going to say it's Black-Potter please, Madam Hooch." She waved him away towards the infirmary and he walked up to the infirmary, floating Daniel all the way. He left the boy in Madam Pomfrey's capable care with a promise to come and visit him again later.

Harry wandered slowly back towards the Gryffindor tower, lost in his thoughts. He was still pondering his plans for payback when he walked through the portrait to find Fred and George deep in discussion with Lee Jordan. They looked up as he entered and waved him over.

"Afternoon" he greeted them, expression grim.

"What happened?" Lee asked curiously, easily working out that Harry was particularly annoyed about something. Harry gave them a quick update on the events of the afternoon, prompting Fred to swear viciously about the apparently random attack.

"This isn't good, Harry" George said seriously "there was another incident this morning - one of the Ravenclaw second years ended up spitting slugs all over the stairs after breakfast..."

They were interrupted as the door to the common room burst open and a very tearful Susan Shaw stumbled through, clutching one side of her face before hurrying towards the girls dorms. Harry sprang up and intercepted her, Lee and the twins quick on his heels.

"What happened?" Asked Harry, concern clear in his voice as he reached for the prefects face. She shied back and put her spare hand up to ward him off. He raised his hands in an unspoken promise not to try again, but didn't move.

"Please, just get out of my way." Her voice cracked in distress as she made her plea.

"No." Said Harry firmly, even as the twins moved to clear her path. "Show me, I can either help or we can get you to the infirmary."

Her one uncovered eye glared at him for a moment before she gave a shuddering sigh and lowered her hand. The boys flinched as she revealed the side of her face, boils spreading out from a point just in front of her left ear, about half an inch from her eye, the skin around it was turning an angry red, following the capillaries under her skin to spread across the rest of her cheek and into her hairline, the white of her left eye had turned a jaundiced yellow and a grey film had spread across the iris and pupil.

"Now will you please move?" She asked tearfully.

"Are you going to the infirmary?" Harry demanded more than questioned. She shook her head dejectedly and Harry sighed before taking her arm gently, leading her up to his dorm room "What happened?" he asked as they made their way up the stairs, the twins and Lee following with morbid curiosity.

"Not sure, I was just on my way back here to grab a towel and head down to the lake when I got hit. Didn't even see who." She muttered bitterly.

The twins and Lee shared a worried look.

"Pissed any Slytherins off lately?" Asked George with forced casualness. Susan gave a pained and very forced laugh.

"Only by being Gryffindor." Harry pushed open the door to his dorm room.

"Sit." He said, pushing Susan gently onto the side of his bed, the twins taking up comforting positions on either side of her as Lee stood back and watched. "You've been hit with a particularly nasty curse called Bucholz' Necrotic Boils, and it's an odd one because it's actually based on a muggle style injection of a virus under the skin, so your standard counters don't work, you actually need to treat it like an infected wound." He explained as he pulled open a draw in his trunk that was much larger than it should have been, pushing aside the armour and twin short swords that the Higgins Security Group had sent him off with, amongst other things. He reached further back and pulling out a long thin wooden box about two inches high, four inches across and twelve long. He opened one end and laid it flat on the bed, checking which one of the twelve small drawers he wanted before pulling it out, revealing a magically expanding tray of eight small vials, each in their own padded bed, a name above each of them. "This" he said, selecting one of the vials before closing the drawer "is Galbraith's Elixer, the counter." He smiled sadly at Susan "Unfortunately, it's going to hurt like a bitch, so... _Petrificus Totallus_" he cast the spell before she had time to do anything other than widen her eyes in surprise.

"Umm. Really sorry Susan." He apologised as he shoo-ed Fred from her left side and tilted her gently back and to one side so the impact site was facing directly upwards. "Right. See here?" He said to the other three, pointing to a tiny hole at the centre of the mass of boils and redness "That's the spell impact point." His voice went soft and quiet as if he was talking to himself as he cracked open the vial revealing a small dropper built into the lid. "I'd say it's been about… twelve minutes since the spell hit, so that's six drops…" he carefully let six drops fall directly onto the small puncture wound and they disappeared inside as if sucked up through a straw, leaving only a slight silvery residue around the wound "let's make it seven to be safe at the site… and again, I'm really sorry about this." He added, dropping one directly onto her open left eye.

As each drop hit the site, they saw a silvery shadow chase the redness under the skin, the boils shrinking further as each shadow passed until with the seventh drop the boils had disappeared and the redness had faded back to a healthy pink. The drop that hit Susan's eye quickly eroded the grey over the iris and pupil, the yellowed white swiftly returning to a much healthier colour. Harry wasn't certain, but he was pretty sure the newly fixed eye and the unaffected eye were both glaring at him with equal hatred, so he figured the cure had been successful. He checked the wound site carefully and saw a faint silver ring where the spell had hit but otherwise no sign of injury. He grinned at his stunned audience and stood up, carefully sitting Susan back upright and stepping back.

"All fixed." He announced cheerfully "_Finite Incantem_" he cast and Susan sprang to her feet breathing heavily and glaring around at them with enough fury to send Fred, George and Lee a step backwards. Harry smiled at her nervously. She swung at him, a vicious right hay-maker that Harry caught just in time. He held onto her wrist firmly. "Hey now!" He caught the left hook as well, holding firmly to both arms and pushing them out, forcing them so close their noses were almost touching "I healed it! You should be thanking me, not hitting me!" He protested, suddenly very conscious that she was still breathing quite heavily and her chest was rubbing against his with every breath. He blushed and released her wrists, moving to take a step back, only to be stopped by her hands on his shoulders.

"Thank you." She said sincerely, staring into his eyes. _She really is quite pretty _thought Harry. She kissed him, softly and slightly longer than was necessary, on the lips and his blush deepened as the twins wolf-whistled. "That's for healing me."

"I have a girlfriend." He mumbled over his embarrassment, again moving to take a step back and again being stopped by her hands on his shoulders. He looked at her in confusion and she slammed her knee hard into his groin. Harry sank slowly to his knees as he went cross-eyed and suddenly found it very hard to breathe.

"And that's for body binding me without my permission." She said sweetly at his prostrate form. Lee and the twins were just staring at her in horror. Susan smiled at them and blew them a kiss as she left.

"I think I'm in love." Whispered Lee quietly as she disappeared out of the door.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Moaned Harry from the floor as he pushed himself gingerly into to a sitting position against his bed and inadvertently calling attention back to himself even as he held his head between his knees and took several deep breaths.

"How did you know that curse?" Demanded Fred.

"Why do you have a micro-apothecary?" George waved at the wooden box that was still sat on Harry's bed. "They're, like…" he waved his hands, trying to think how much one of the highly warded cases would cost "lots of money." He finished lamely.

"A micro-what?" Asked Lee, not taking his eyes from Harry, an expression of extreme curiosity on his face.

"Micro-apothecary" said Fred "they're ridiculously expensive because most normal space expanding charms will have a detrimental effect on the potions so it's all done with wards into some special wood, which is uber-expensive in itself."

"The best ones" continued George, picking up one of the vials and checking the bottom, showing the wards etched into the glass to his brother and friend before carefully replacing it into its correct place "have the small vials linked to larger vials that refill the smaller ones as needed." He picked up the vial that Harry had discarded on the bed and was still full by way of example, before also returning that to its appropriate holder and sliding the drawer closed. He nudged Harry with his foot. "Spill." He commanded.

Harry groaned at the contact before flopping his head back against the bed. He moved his eyes from the twins to Lee, thinking carefully before slowly pushing himself onto his bed.

"To answer your questions in order," he winced as he carefully adjusted himself to avoid any further pain "one of my tutors showed me that curse over the summer and cast it on me so that I would know exactly how much pain I'd be inflicting on someone if I ever decided to use it. It's one of the worst ones, in case you were wondering. Ouch." He hissed with pain and readjusted himself again. "And I have micro-apothecary because it was my great-grandfather's, and my adoptive father thought it would be useful while I'm here in case anything bad happened. It did." He added by way of clarification. The twins nodded in acceptance while Lee continued his thoughtful stare. "More important than how I know what I know, and why I own what I own, is what's going on today" Harry stated with authority, waving at the others to grab a seat where they could, prompting the twins to sit in mirrored poses against Harry's pillows and Lee to sit propped against the far post from Harry. "Is this sort of thing normal? Three random attacks against three random people?"

The twins sighed and shook their heads in unison.

"Nope." Confirmed Lee, his expression grim. Harry rubbed his face, letting out a dejected sigh.

"So, they're targeting anyone who isn't Slytherin as a show of force as a way of retaliating against us for their song and dance the other day." He assessed, earning nods of agreement from the others. There was a long silence. "Any thoughts?" He tried hopefully.

"Besides hoping that the staff manage to step up for a change?" Asked Lee bitterly, earning snorts of amusement from the others.

"Blackmail someone to get them all expelled?" Tried George. Fred hit him lightly on the shoulder.

"We've got money-bags with us now," he said, waving towards Harry "we can bribe people too." Harry flashed a quick smile before turning serious again.

"I don't think my pocket money would quite stretch that far, though it'd probably be worth doing when I take over the families in the future." He made a mental note to raise the idea with Sirius.

"We should go for something that targets their whole House, remind them that they're all being held responsible for the actions of a few" contributed Lee "maybe that way the more responsible ones will rein in the others."

They spent the next hour discussing possible courses of action, discarding the more outlandish and violent before settling on a simple, elegant solution.

"Right" said Fred, leading forwards eagerly "Lee, you've got the passageway from the dungeons."

"Harry's got the entry to the Great Hall." Contributed George.

"And you two are on the rune carving." Said Harry, indicating the twins.

"Monday afternoon?" Checked Lee, receiving three nods of confirmation.

"What's on Monday afternoon?" They all turned to see Neville and Ron Weasley in the doorway, looking at them curiously.

"How much did you hear?" Fred demanded from his younger brother.

"Just the last bit about Monday afternoon." Answered Neville "What are you planning?" He asked suspiciously.

The four pranksters looked at each other, identical smiles with equal hints of evil on their faces.

"Probably best not to know." Harry said apologetically. He glanced at his watch and pushed himself to his feet. "Right, I'm going to go check on Daniel, see how he's doing. Catch you all at dinner."

He clapped Neville on the shoulder as he left the room, giving a reassuring smile at the slightly hurt look on the other boy's face as the three older students followed him out, Fred and George heading up to their room to start work, Lee tagging along behind him.

Harry spared a worried look for the group of older girls surrounding Susan Shaw in the common room, who stopped their whispering to cast appraising glances in his direction as he entered, resuming their conversation as he left through the portrait. He turned to Lee just outside the entrance to Gryffindor tower.

"Why are you following me?" He asked cautiously. The other boy motioned him forwards, directing him towards a deserted classroom, glancing around to make sure they were alone and shutting the door behind them.

"What's up?" Lee looked at him with a combination of curiosity and skepticism.

"Why do you have swords and rune-armour in your chest?" He demanded after a moment. Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise at the question and opened his mouth to deny it. "I saw them when you got the micro-apothecary out." Harry shrugged.

"The guys from HSG - the Higgins Security Group - that my adopted cousins run gave them to me before I left for school." He gave a rueful chuckle "My grandfather told me I should send anything too dangerous back, and to be honest I was probably going to send them home, but I'm beginning to think I might have call for them before too long."

"Huh." Came Lee's thoughtful response. "You're not going to go berserker and slaughter your dorm mates are you?" Harry started to laugh before he saw the worry on Lee's face.

"No. No I'm not." He promised.

"Hmm." Lee's face was thoughtful and then changed to hopeful "Slytherin House?"

This time Harry did laugh and Lee joined in. "Not on the cards at the moment, but I'll let you know if that changes. Anything else?"

Lee shook his head and opened the door, turning right for the common room as Harry turned left for the infirmary. He spent half an hour chatting with Daniel and a small group of Hufflepuff's who were visiting their housemates before leaving with the distinct impression that he had just significantly elevated the boy's social status by having Harry Black Potter as a friend, and headed down for dinner.

He stopped outside the Great Hall and gave a small smile, adding his name to the list of those interested in the Dueling Club, noting the time of the first meeting on Monday evening.

"I thought you said duelling was a waste of time?" Harry turned and smiled at Neville, sauntering slowly into the Great Hall to take a seat next to Hermione.

"I never said it was a waste of time," Harry corrected, "it's just not that useful in a battle - I mean, in the midst of a battle, are you going to stop and work out what rules you and your opponent are fighting to, or are you just going to try and take them down?" Neville shrugged and conceded the point as he helped himself to dinner.

"Kick 'em in the balls?" Neville asked with a small smile.

"Kick 'em in the balls." Agreed Harry with a grin.

"You." Hissed Hermione at Harry by way of acknowledging the new arrivals.

"Me." Harry acknowledge her cheerfully, loading his plate with lasagne before catching her serious expression and giving a weary sigh "What have I done now?" She glared at him before waving down the table in the direction of the other students.

"You tell me." She said with a scowl. Harry leaned out to look down the long table and realised that Susan Shaw was sat at the far end with a group of the other girls from the sixth and seventh year, apparently recounting a very interesting story judging by the expressions he could make out. Just as he looked, Susan got to the end and they all slowly turned in Harry's direction. He smiled nervously at them, receiving several smiles in return that could only be described as predatory. His worry only increased as he saw the effect of the story slowly working its way down the table.

"Huh." Fortunately, Hermione's further questions were cut off as the headmaster stood, creating a light jingling noise to call the attention of the students.

"Good evening everyone" he began with his best grandfatherly smile and a mad twinkling of his eyes behind the half-moon glasses "I am aware that I am interrupting your dinner, so I shall not keep you too long. It is with great sadness that I must speak to you today, so early on in the term, but I have a very simple message regarding the actions of a small number of students that are affecting the wider student body. While I am all in favour of high-spirits and the occasional prank, today alone has seen three particularly nasty attacks against individual students for no apparent reason. These were not pranks but malicious attacks tantamount to assault. I am sure that I do not need to remind you all of this school's anti-bullying policy as you have only recently been briefed by your house masters, however: If you are caught bullying other students, you will be given one warning and one warning only. If you are caught again, you will be asked to leave this school. Permanently. Do I make myself clear?" There was a series of nods around the hall. "Good! Bullying - we're not going to take it!" He finished with a smile before sitting down, the normal chatter of dinner resuming in short order.

"Huh." Said Harry to himself. He needed to speak to the twins and Lee. Maybe Neville too.

He studiously ignored all of Hermione's attempts to start a conversation with him, paying just as little attention to his dinner, eating mechanically as his thoughts mulled over. He was startled out of his revery by a sudden cry from beside him.

"Shit!" Dean had knocked his glass of pumpkin juice over and it had soaked Seamus' robes, prompting the boy to hold his sleeve above his plate and squeeze out what he could glaring across at his friend.

"Sorry mate." Dean apologised while Harry threw his napkin down to begin damage control and mop up the remaining liquid. As his napkin turned slowly yellow-orange from the juice, he realised the corner of the napkin had the Gryffindor crest on it and soaked up the colour last, leaving it highlighted for a brief moment against the stained napkin. Harry felt the small kernel of an idea forming in his mind. He began to smile. Then he began to grin.

"What's that look for?" Demanded Hermione. Neville saw Harry's face before he had the chance to moderate his expression .

"What look?" Asked Harry, the picture of wide-eyed innocence.

"Ah shit." Groaned Neville "I _hate_ that look." Harry turned to them both with wounded pride.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I was just thinking that we should really get behind the headmaster's message - we really shouldn't take it any more." He smiled at them.

"Uhuh." Came Neville's disbelieving response.

"Well," Hermione began skeptically "I think that's very sensible of you Harry. Good for you." He smiled sweetly back at her.

"Now, on a completely different note, I need to go find the twins. And Lee." He said, pushing himself to his feet. "Excuse me." He missed Hermione's concerned gaze following him out of the hall.

"He's going to do something stupid isn't he?" She asked Neville, who shrugged and pushed his plate away, standing to follow Harry.

"Probably." She gave him a curious look and made to follow him "It's ok" he waved her back down "I'm going to try and talk him out of doing anything that will get him expelled. You should stay here, keep out of trouble."

Neville caught up with him in the common room, deserted apart from Harry talking with Lee and the twins in one corner. Neville took a seat with them and leaned in. They stopped talking and turned to look at him.

"I'm in." He said with determination. A skeptical look went around the quartet.

"You sure?" Asked Harry. Neville took a deep breath and gave a quick nod. "Ok then. Here're the problems:" he ticked them off on his fingers as he went along "one: any prank against an individual will be considered bullying and consequently get us in the shit; two: we know that Draco is the ringleader of this year, but there are a few others further along in their school careers - Marcus Flint for one, though there are other key players but again, if we target these guys alone, they can call it bullying; three: anything we do now is going to be seen in the light of the headmaster's latest speech and that didn't leave a lot of wriggle room." He glanced around the small group. "Thoughts?"

"What were the headmaster's words?" Asked Lee, directing it towards George, who had the better memory of the two.

"About the warnings?"

"No" Lee shook his head "about pranks vs bullying."

"Oh, um…" George thought for a moment before shrugging "he's in favour of high spirits and the occasional prank."

"So then, we have to make sure that whatever we do is undeniably a prank." Neville input. The boys all nodded thoughtfully.

"Who has an idea?" Asked Harry. The others turned to look at him, eyes narrowing accusingly.

"You've already got something." It was a statement, not a question. Harry nodded and leant forwards, casting a quick privacy bubble.

"Here's what I suggest..."

/

**Sunday**

Hermione was in her own little world as she entered the Great Hall, planning a lovely day in the library, finishing off her Charms essay. She had had a look around the common room before she left for breakfast for brunch, but no one had been around and so she'd headed out on her own.

"Granger!" She looked up and saw Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell waving her over. She was mildly surprised, for while she had no quarrel with either girl, she hadn't said a huge amount to either of them before and didn't know much about them beyond their names, that they were friends of Susan Shaw and they played for the House Quidditch team.

"Yes?" She asked timidly. Alicia patted the bench beside her and Hermione sat down with just a hint of nerves, remembering the bullying she had gone through before she had arrived at Hogwarts and the nasty comments about being a bookworm that still followed her around.

"You know Potter, right?" asked Katie. _Ah,_ she thought with just a hint of sadness _that's what this is about. Of course they didn't just want to speak to me._

"Um… Black-Potter. Yes." She gave a little nod. "Why?" The two older girls smiled at each other triumphantly and leaned in closer, Katie pouring her a cup of tea.

"Tell us about him." Alicia demanded.

"Everything." Clarified Katie. Hermione looked back and forth between them, uncertainty clear on her face.

"Why do you want to know?" She asked suspiciously.

"Wood's thinking of recruiting him for the quidditch team." Alicia lied smoothly.

"Also, he's hot." Katie added. Hermione flushed at the bold statement, trying to ignore her inner voice as it agreed with the older girl.

"Um… well he plays rugby" she started, immediately noting the confusion on their faces "it's a muggle sport, very physical, played on the ground. Players tackle each other by running into each other and charging them to the ground while trying to score using an egg-shaped ball…"

"Was he any good?" Interrupted Angelina Johnson, catching the last part of the conversation and instantly guessing who they were talking about. Hermione glanced up at the new arrival, realising that several of the other girls from the House had also arrived and were gravitating towards them. She thought for a moment, remembering the games she had caught, the twists around other players, the bursts of speed, a particularly accurate kick of the ball into the face of another player… she gave a decisive nod.

"Yes. Very."

"Chaser?" Asked Katie of Angelina a little nervously. The other girl shook her head.

"No, Wood won't want to break us up unless he's ridiculously good." She thought for a moment "Beater? Nah, can't break up the twins. I guess maybe a reserve…" She trailed off before shaking her head to clear it and turning her attention back to Hermione. "More importantly, is he single?"

"No." She saw a few looks of disappointment around the gathered girls and a few more of determination. "He also just walked in." As a collective, the girls went instantly silent, turning to see the object of their discussion walking in, chatting away with Neville, the twins and Lee Jordan. The boys stopped as they were pinned by the stares of a large proportion of the female population of Gryffindor tower.

"Well that's a little worrying." Harry said softly.

"We aren't pieces of meat you know!" Fred protested loudly, prompting the girls to descend into giggling whispers with the exception of a very frustrated looking Hermione, who followed them with her eyes to their seats at the far end of the table where they sat discussing something quietly and studiously ignoring the occasional glances from the ever growing crowd of girls.

Hermione continued to answer questions on the latest arrival to third year as best she could, keeping half an eye on him as the brunch progressed. When the boys finished and stood to leave, Hermione made to stand and join them only to find herself pulled back into her seat and peppered with more questions. She did hear them mutter something about "school spirit - definitely not bullying" and "tonight?" from one of the twins and a "no, later" from Harry. She wasn't sure what they had planning, but it filled her with a sense of foreboding. She was distracted by Katie Bell nudging her in the ribs.

"Sorry, what was that?" She asked.

"I said, what do you think of Harry?" Hermione found herself the attention of more people than she had ever been faced with before in a purely social environment.

"Umm" She thought for a moment. "Well he's friendly - he helped that first year yesterday, and you can see why he was sorted into Gryffindor after he took on those Slytherins the other day…"

"I heard he beat ten of them, all on his own!" Interjected Lavender Brown breathlessly.

"Er… there were five of them, and he had Neville with him." Corrected Hermione. Lavender huffed dismissively and tossed her carefully arranged hair over one shoulder.

"No, there were definitely ten, and even if Neville was there, what good would he do?" Countered Parvarti Patil, earning several nods of support from around the table. Hermione bit off defending her friend and decided arguing would probably be fruitless.

"Anyway, the one thing I know for sure about Harry Black-Potter," she said gathering her things and making ready to leave "is that he's really flll…" her words stopped. "really ffffll"

"Fucking hot?" leered one of the older girls.

"Flipping dreamy?" supplied one of the younger ones.

"Annoying! Harry's really annoying!" She said with a huff, turning on her heel and striding purposefully towards the library as the other girls descended into laughter that was all too knowing for her liking.

/

What little time she didn't spend in the library that Sunday, Hermione kept looking for Harry. Neville would do. Merlin, even the twins or Lee would do, but they were all missing. Then she went down for dinner and spotted them nearly having finished theirs.

"Where have you been all day?" She asked Neville grabbing a spare seat next to him.

"Can't say." He said distractedly, shoveling another fork full into his mouth by way of avoiding answering any more questions.

"Secret." Harry commented, before scraping up the last spoonful of apple crumble and washing it down with a glass of water. "See you guys in the… place." He finished cryptically as he stood, getting nods from the other four.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"Can't say." Lee said, repeating Neville's earlier answer and ignoring her glare. She grabbed Neville's sleeve as he stood and sniffed at it.

"You smell of potions." She stated, narrowing her eyes accusingly.

"Yep, Lee and us and Harry are giving him extra tuition." Fred said, gently removing Hermione's hand and taking Neville's arm.

"All about helping people, we are." Stated George, taking Neville's other arm and frog-marching him out of the Great Hall, leaving a very confused Hermione Granger behind them.

Hermione Granger didn't swear. Ever. But if she did, she would have been thinking to herself: _This is going to go so flipping badly._

/

**Monday evening's duelling session**

The Great Hall had been cleared for the Duelling Club, the staff table having been removed to allow the use of the stage as a duelling platform, two rows of padded mats ten feet apart running nearly the entire length of the hall. There was quite an impressive turn out, thought Harry, estimating about fifty students with a fairly even smattering of year groups and houses, including, he noted with a little annoyance, Draco Malfoy. Professor Longbottom was sat in the padded arm-chair he had adopted and charmed to float him around chatting quietly with Professors Flitwick and Snape. His canes remained in special tubes at the ends of the arms, and he gripped them as if for support or for control, like muggle joysticks.

"Now then" began Frank Longbottom. "We are going to start today with a simple exercise that will allow me to establish your skill levels and should also prove to be good fun for you." He smiled out at them "You will be divided up according to skill level, not according to your year group, though there will be some correlation and in future we will have separate nights for beginners, intermediates and advanced classes. As we progress through the year, we will build you all up, regardless of where you start and moving you between classes as required. The aim is to build your confidence in your abilities to better defend yourself, and at the end of the year we will have a demonstration of your skills in front of the rest of the school. Are there any questions to start with?" He look around the assembled students. "No? Ok then, I need two rows of students. The first side shall cast a basic shield spell, the second shall cast the following spell: Professor Flitwick, if you wouldn't mind?"

The diminutive charms professor smiled happily and pointed his wand at a small target, over exaggerating his wand movements and carefully enunciating.

"_Pictus_" A small ball of magic shot from the end of the wand to splash against the target in luminous yellow. The professor demonstrated three more times, each time sending a bright blob of colour to splash against the target. Each shot, Harry noted idly, was almost directly over the previous one, no mean feat from nearly twenty feet away, even for a master duelist

"Now, you'll each fire five shots at your opponent before swapping over and taking a turn at shielding. Once you have both had five goes and are both happy with the paintball charm, we will move onto speed drills: you will cast your paintball and then immediately shield. You may cast one paintball charm at a time and you are not allowed to cast until your opponent has cast his own - tit for tat. The aim of the game is to mark your opponent before he has a chance to raise his shield while preventing him from doing the same to you. You will each need a pair of these - " he waved his wand, summoning a pair of plastic goggles from the mat nearest to him "just in case you are hit before you manage to erect your shield. When Professor Flitwick sounds the chime" he nodded to Professor Flitwick who smiled and waved his wand, producing a high pitched _ding!_ "the person at the far end of the right hand line will move to this end and everyone else will move down one, ensuring that all the students rotate around. Professors Snape and Flitwick will be overseeing as I observe the first duellers" He glanced through the list of students "Mr Wood, if you please… and Miss Clearwater as well I think. I will watch you two first and then continue with my assessment of the rest of you through a winner-stays-on format. Are there any questions?" He looked around and smiled at everyone's eager faces. "Excellent, let's begin."

Harry took up position and smiled across at the Ravenclaw who had introduced himself as Terry Boot. They both donned their goggles and demonstrated the shield charm to Flitwick's satisfaction, casting a practice paintball against each other before the professor moved on to the next pair. Soon enough, laughter was filling the air as paintballs flew back and forth. As Terry shot his fifth and final paintball, Harry smiled at him, shifting his feet ever so slightly.

"Shall we begin?" Terry asked with a smile. Harry smiled back and nodded.

"Do you want to go first or shall… _protego!_" His question was cut off by Terry's paintball that splashed harmlessly against Harry's hastily erected shield, shaking his head in mock disappointment at his opponent. "That was a cheap shot, Terry, I expected better from a Ravenclaw." The other boy smirked and put up his own shield, beckoning for Harry to respond.

The next two and a half minutes were spent in a rapid exchange of paintballs between the two of them. It was the same drill that Mr Smith had run them through several times when Harry had first started his training, and they had revisited it as well when they began wandless and silent casting so Harry wasn't hugely surprised when the chime sounded and there was no paint on his robes. In fairness, there wasn't much on Terry's either, the other boy was quicker than Harry had thought, though he had a tendency to shout his spells when he was excited, putting in more power than was needed. While it wasn't a problem here, in a real fight Harry knew the other boy would end up exhausting himself unnecessarily.

Every three minutes, the chime sounded and the line moved down by one. Harry was a little disappointed that he wasn't able to watch the assessment duels taking place, but he did end up having fun, especially when he realised that his next opponent would be Daphne who had three multi coloured paint spots on her robes.

"Miss Greengrass." He greeted her with a slight smile and a bow.

"Potter." She scowled back at him realising that Harry's robes remained clean, but gave a small nod of her head as well. "Shall we?"

"Let's dance." Harry couldn't resist sub-vocalising his first shot, aiming to catch her off guard, only to be surprised by the speed at which she brought up her shield. He barely saw the paint mark appear on the glowing blue barrier before it disappeared and he had to bring up his own. She scowled across at him and he grinned back as they quickly descended into a high speed rally.

"Very good, Miss Greengrass, Mr Black-Potter, very good spell work!" Flitwick's comment was barely acknowledged as the spells flew back and forth.

The chime sounded and they lowered their wands, grinning at each other.

"Thank you, Miss Greengrass." Harry bowed low, straightening just in time to take a paintball in the chest. He looked across at her in indignation as she dropped into an elaborate curtsey.

"Mr Potter" She said with a smirk "I didn't want you feeling left out, being the only one without any paint on you." He sighed, shaking his head, but had a smile on his face as he turned to his next opponent.

"I'll get you back, don't worry."

"Mr Black-Potter!" Harry turned towards the call that interrupted them. Professor Longbottom waved him towards the duelling platform. He carefully hid his pleasure at seeing Miles Bletchley sneering back at him. _I really must work out if they all get private lessons in how to sneer properly._ Harry thought to himself and he hopped onto the duelling platform as the rules were explained. "Now, no lethal curses, no dark curses, if your opponent surrenders, cease casting. A winner will be determined when the opponent can no longer cast or has been knocked from the platform and this will be a best of three bout. Bow please" Harry gave a formal bow to both Professor Longbottom and his opponent, receiving a nod of the head that was pretty much all that could be expected from a man in a wheelchair, and the barest dip of the head from Bletchley. _This is going to be fun. Must remember to make it look hard, though._ He thought to himself, remembering Arcturus' advice at the start of term.

As soon as they received the instruction to begin, the spells began flying back and forth. _He's actually not too awful_ thought Harry as he shielded another boil hex, snapping off two quick trippers and a jelly legs in reply, twisting out of the way of a hair growing hex _Ok, I just lost all respect for you_ Harry thought. He rolled away from a buldgeoner, sending back a mildly over-powered _Expeliarmus_ in response that smashed through a shield and sent the other boy flying backwards and his wand into Harry's waiting hand.

Miles scowled as he picked himself up and brushed himself off, Harry handed back the wand and made more of a show than necessary of breathing heavily at the effort. The second duel went even quicker, with Bletchley winded from his previous bout and having barely any time to recover was incapacitated after only five spells by Harry's _Incarcerus_.

_Bored now, give me a challenge_. Harry thought idly, his bow to Miles' retreating back ignored as the other boy grumbled about "not a fair fight, already fought someone else." It apparently didn't matter that he had fought Mandy Brocklehurst, who suffered from a severe stammer and had struggled to get out any spell that she couldn't cast wordlessly.

Just as Frank was about to call out a name, Professor Flitwick sent two chimes into the air, announcing that they would all have a five minute break.

"Do you want to continue, Harry, or would you like a break too?" Frank asked. Harry shrugged.

"Might as well carry on sir."

"I believe I have the perfect opponent for our new… celebrity." Snapes silky voice interrupted, apparently in answer to Harry's unspoken request. They turned to see the potions master with one hand on the shoulder of a hulking Slytherin.

"Isn't Mr Flint a seventh year?" Frank questioned his colleague, clearly displeased with the interjection.

"Indeed, and he is an excellent duellist, and will be well suited to put Mr Potter through his paces." Snape argued smoothly, giving Flint a slight push forwards. Professor Longbottom cast a questioning look at Harry, who shrugged.

"I don't mind, sir." Harry replied as Flint stepped up onto the platform. "Oh, but Professor Snape, sir?" The potions teacher glared at him. "It's Black-Potter." There was a slight titter of laughter from the back of the crowd that had formed to watch. Harry spotted a concerned looking Susan Shaw in the front row and winked at her, prompting a worried smile from the older girl before he turned to Flint. The older boy glowered at him._  
_

"Begin!" Called Frank Longbottom.

There was a pause, neither of them casting. Harry rose slightly onto the balls of his feet, a barely perceptible shifting of weight that would allow him to move just as easily in any direction. The corner of Flint's mouth twisted up and Harry saw the muscles in Flint's arm tense as he began the wand movements for his first spell. They both pulled their faces into savage grins, flicking wands up.

Harry twisted under the first spell, feeling the power as it passed his cheek. _Powerful caster,_ he thought _what's his speed like?_ He sent back a stunner that splashed against a shield, following it up with a bat bogey that met the same fate. Harry paused, making it seem like he was searching for the next spell. Flint's shield dropped and he snapped off an inversion hex that Harry shielded. _Not that fast on the counter either, that's a pity. Might make losing this one a bit harder._

He scowled at the spell coming towards him, wondering idly if Susan recognised the spell that had hit her on Saturday afternoon as it shot towards Harry, and Flint became his number one suspect for the attack. He let it splash against the shield, dropping it and casting several quick paintballs at Flint. They splashed against the shield in bright red and gold _Might as well go for house colours_. He heard Flint's angry growl as the paint blocked his vision, dropping his shield to clear it and taking Harry's _Expeliarmus _in the face.

Their audience broke into cheers for Harry as Snape helped his student up, muttering something in his ear as he pushed him back towards the stage.

Harry gave a hostile glare as he tossed the wand back, deliberately allowing it to fall short so it landed on the floor, rolling towards it's owner.

"Oops. Sorry." Harry apologised, with a marked lack of sincerity. Flint glared angrily back at him. _Prick_, he didn't add, but thought really loudly.

"Round two. Mr Flint, watch those spells please." The Slytherin nodded angrily, adopting a starting pose. Harry was already at the ready. "Begin."

There was no pause this time, and the spells flew thick and fast. Harry alternated between dodging and shielding, sending back spells he figured would be appropriate for someone who had received a moderate amount of additional tutelage, though he couldn't resist throwing in Bucholz's Boils as well, earning a mildly surprised look from the Slytherin and a chastisement from Professor Longbottom.

Harry was watching the spells as they came. Flint had a fairly narrow range, favouring combat spells such as inversion hexes and imprisonment spells, even utilising some basic spell-chains, where the end of one lead smoothly into the beginning of the next and reduced casting time. _He's probably pissed he can't use more violent ones. Oh well,_ _time to let this end I guess_ he thought, recognising Flint's favourite combo, three bludgeoners cast in three languages, all folding neatly on into the other. Harry took a breath, readying his body for the impact, hoping it wouldn't look too staged.

The first came in high and right. _Shitting OW!_ Harry's inner voice began swearing fluently in six different languages as he felt his shoulder dislocate even as the second punched into his left leg, knocking him to one knee before taking the third squarely in the chest and being thrown from the platform landing in a groaning heap in front of the crowd. There was a shocked gasp followed by a flurry of hands reaching to help him up.

"You alright?" Asked Neville, concern clear on his face. Harry nodded, biting his cheek against the pain.

"Neville! Take Mr Black Potter to the infirmary please, that shoulder…" Began Professor Longbottom.

"It's fine sir." Harry scooped up his wand with his left hand and walked to the wall. He heard some curious whispering from the crowd, wondering if he was disoriented. Harry took a quick breath and slammed his shoulder against the wall with a crunch. There was a series of pained 'ooo's' from the audience and a lot of cringing. "Oh you fucking bastard." He hissed quietly.

"Ten points for swearing, Mr Black Potter." Apparently he didn't swear quietly enough. Harry ignored Snape and moved his shoulder gingerly around a couple of times. He put his wand into his right hand with his left.

"Right as rain sir." He said to Professor Longbottom with a weak smile.

"This is merely an…" the teacher tried again.

"I'm fine, sir." He insisted Frank stared at him with a very curious expression, ignoring the hushed murmuring of the crowd. He gave a slight nod.

"As you wish, but straight to the infirmary afterwards please. But ten points for tenacity." Harry nodded in agreement and there was a babble of amused chatter at the DADA professors awarding of points. "Round two to Mr Flint. Tie-breaker."

Harry took up his dueling position, wand in his right hand, wincing as the shoulder moved. He took the wand from his right hand with his left, pushing his right arm gently down before gripping his belt firmly with his right hand and adopting a left-handed dueling stance. Flint sneered across at him. _At least this next one should be slightly more believable _his inner voice commented dryly as his face twisted into another grimace of pain.

"Ready now?" Flint's humour in Harry's discomfort was patently obvious in his voice, though he ignored the dirty looks he was receiving from several of the students. Harry nodded.

"Begin!" Harry opted for shielding the spells as they came towards him, adopting the reflective shield Neville had used in their first run in with the Slytherins and prompting Flint to throw up a quick shield against his own tripper and stunner. Harry's follow up expelliarmus was blocked and he suddenly found himself flipped upside-down and high into the air, the familiar grey-blue of a bludgeoner heading rapidly in his direction. He fired back the way it came, just getting it out before the other spell hit him in his already bruised ribs and sent him flying over the heads of the crowd.

Harry twisted in the air, getting ready to land with a combat roll and come up fighting, when he felt a familiar lightening sensation. _Ah, of course. We're in a school._ He noticed Frank Longbottom had snapped his wand out and was gently lowering him to the floor by the platform. Harry sank to one knee, not completely over egging the injury. He coughed, wiping red spittle from his lips.

"And round three to Mr Flint." The professor said quietly. There was a disappointed sigh from the audience. "Fifteen points, Mr Black Potter, for exceptional accuracy with your off-hand, upside down, and in the air." He said, not taking his eyes from Harry. "And injured. To the infirmary with you."

"What?!" Bellowed Flint in indignation and Snape looked as if he were about to protest as well, until Longbottom Snr pointed at the face of the repeating seventh year. The audience turned to stare as the 'winner' wiped a smear of red and gold paint from the middle of his forehead. "That was luck! That _had_ to be luck!"

He was ignored as Frank Longbottom continued "Mr Weasley, will you accompany him please? For the rest of you, please continue with your drills. That's the Head Boy Weasley!" He added as an after thought, seeing the twins and a rather confused Ron heading to help Harry and receiving a round of nervous laughter at his comment that nicely broke the tension.

Percy strode over officiously, offering Harry a supporting arm, which was politely declined in favour of limping the length of the Hall, earning him several sympathetic glances from the other students.

"Would you like me to levitate you?" Percy asked sympathetically as Harry leant against the wall at the top of the first flight of stairs.

"No, I'm good." The pain evident in his voice.

"Of course you are." Percy agreed dryly. "Why don't you let me help you? Here, put your hand on my shoulder." Harry acquiesced and they carried on, him leaning against the older boy and limping heavily, holding his ribs with his injured right arm.

"You do realise, don't you, that you bought this on yourself?" _Here we go_ Harry prepared to tune out the lecture. "If you didn't antagonise them, you wouldn't have attracted their attention, and those accusations against Snape were just…" Percy waved his hand, searching for the word.

"Entirely accurate?" Tried Harry, wincing as he put weight onto his bruised leg. "But to your first point, why should they get away with bullying the entire school? I mean, you're Head Boy, there's pretty much all the staff doing sod-all as well, and I know that there's this 'anti-bullying' policy, but really? How did they let it get to this point?" Percy huffed irritably.

"I don't disagree with you, but it's not your place to fix it." He argued.

"Fine. If not me, then who? You? Fine, you show me you're capable of putting the Slytherin's down through legitimate means, and I'll stop doing it my way." Harry challenged. There was an awkward pause.

"It's not that simple…" he said, catching Harry as he stumbled.

"Ouch. Thanks. It never is. Until it has to be." Harry commented.

"Huh." They carried on in silence until they reached the infirmary, the school nurse bustling forwards to guide Harry towards the nearest bed. "Thanks, Percy." The Head Boy nodded in acknowledgement. "You don't need to wait." He answered the unasked question and the older boy gave a small smile.

"Hope you feel better soon." Percy tossed over his shoulder as the nurse began casting diagnostics, tutting at the results.

"Well, Mr Potter..." Harry gave her a rather pained smile.

"It's Black-Potter, miss." Harry corrected, for what felt like the millionth time. "My adoptive father Sirius Black and his friend, Remus Lupin, asked that I send you their regards if I bumped into you." He winced as he shifted position "I don't think either of us thought it would be this soon though."

She gave him a warm smile and a pain-reliever. "And please send my best back to those two scamps. Such lovely young men, I'm so glad their happy together." Harry hid his smirk with a grimace and didn't bother to correct her, wondering how long it would take Sirius and Remus to work out that the staff at Hogwarts thought they were a couple, and how much longer after that it would take to disabuse every one of that notion. "Now," continued Poppy "you have two bruised but not broken ribs, heavy bruising to the left thigh, bruising around the shoulder from a recent dislocation, though it looks like it's popped back in by itself, and a split lip."

"Huh, that's why it hurts" he said, trying to inject some levity. The stern glare he got in response discouraged him from pointing out that he had re-set his shoulder himself. "Sorry."

"Very funny." She bustled into a back room, returning with a small vial. "Here, this is a concentrated pain potion, two drops into your drink at breakfast, two more at dinner. If you feel you need more when it runs out, come and see me, understand?"

"Yes ma'am." he nodded.

"Good, your shoulder will be right as rain by tomorrow afternoon, though you might feel a little tender around the joints. The ribs will hurt for a bit longer but that's what the pain reliever is for. Now, off you go, get some rest."

"Yes ma'am." he repeated, gingerly testing his leg before he stepped off and began making his way back towards the Gryffindor tower.

Harry was deep in thought as he pushed open the door, not realising almost the common room was packed with members of Gryffindor who had been at the Duelling Club relaying events to those who had missed it. The room descended into silence as he arrived, suddenly realising he was once again the centre of attention. The twins were stood shoulder to shoulder, staring at him with disappointed looks.

"You forgot your own rule, Harry." Fred accused, sadness in his voice as George shook his head like a disappointed father. Harry just looked at them, trying to think what they could mean.

"Er… what?"

"Kick 'em in the balls!" Chorused the whole common room, descending into cheers despite Harry's loss, the boys moving forward to slap him on the back while he soon found himself surrounded by several of the girls he had seen with Susan Shaw earlier, all fawning over his injuries and arguing over who got to play nursemaid.

"Really, I'm fine." Harry insisted again, pushing another pair of hands away as he slowly made his way across the common room. "Just very tired." He didn't entirely fake a yawn "See? I'm going to bed. Doctors orders and all that." He breathed a sigh of relief as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

Fred winked at him and he gave the smallest of smiles back.

"Still good for tomorrow night?" The twin asked in a low voice.

"Oh, most definitely." He said, an evil grin spreading across his face as he made his way to his room, and sank gratefully into bed, relaxing and allowing sleep to steal over him.


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N Hey folks, so I won't put a long note here, I'll just say that this should answer a few of the questions as to when/how people realise what's been voted in regarding the latest laws. Thanks very much for all the reviews too, they make the writing that much easier and give me a reason to get off my arse and write when I'm procrastinating - I do try to reply to them all but obviously can't if you're not logged in. Your call. _

**Tuesday morning, Hogwarts**

Harry woke early, shaking Neville and bullying him into getting up, receiving a standard response by way of thanks.

"I hate you, Harry."

"Whatever, get up."

They made their way out to the quidditch pitch for their morning run, Harry coaxing his friend around five laps before leading him through a set of body weight exercises. Even after only a week, Neville was starting to get into the swing of things and despite his complaining, hadn't stopped joining Harry for the morning routine. As usual they arrived just as Susan was leaving for breakfast. Harry stood to one side, carefully protecting himself in case she attempted to go for the family jewels again. She smirked, before a look of concern crossed her face.

"You still managed your run after last night?" Harry grinned in response.

"No pain, no gain." She rolled her eyes but was smiling none the less as she headed towards the Great Hall.

"Idiot. See you for breakfast."

Harry kept smiling, ignoring Neville's look of curiosity at him clasping his crotch protectively until she was out of striking range, shrugging it off as yet another oddity of Harry Black-Potter. In a slight change to the standard morning in Gryffindor tower, a bleary eyed Fred and George were sighted, possibly awake but definitely upright, zombie-walking towards breakfast, a slightly more alert Lee Jordan shepherding them along. He grinned at Harry and Neville as they took a seat at the table.

"Today's the day." The older boy said by way of good morning.

"Today's the day." Agreed Harry cheerfully, the exchange earning them several worried looks from those within earshot.

"You do remember what the Headmaster said about bullying, don't you?" Asked a worried looking Oliver Wood.

"We're not going to take it." Chorused Neville, Harry and Lee.

"No' gon' t' i'" came the slurred response from Fred and George as one of them tried to spoon orange juice into his mouth and the other tried to drink from his bowl of porridge. Oliver sighed.

"Look, I know you're up to something, because the twins are only ever awake this early if they have something big planned." He pointed out, stalling any protests with a raised hand. "Just, please, don't get expelled?" He begged with more than a slight hint of desperation "They're our Beaters, and we need them."

"No probs." Harry responded "Definitely not getting expelled." He caught the worried look from Oliver "Probably." He settled in for breakfast, pausing only to detach a very short letter from Arcturus from the leg of the Black family owl, a huge, completely black Eagle owl. He stole a piece of bacon from a snoozing Fred's plate to feed the bird as he read the missive.

_Harry,_

_Unfortunately, I must attend a formal Wizengamot session this morning and will be unable to attend your scheduled potions class. Mr Smith and Samantha Jackson are en route and will be taking our allocated time in my stead._

_I trust, having not heard anything to the contrary, that you are staying out of trouble. Please wait until at least half-term before you are threatened with expulsion._

_Arcturus_

_P.S. Your Great-Grandfather is the greatest prankster there has ever been. Ever._

_Keep an eye on the newspapers, you'll see what I mean._

_Sirius_

Harry wondered idly what he meant, casting his eyes towards the high table and noting the headmaster's conspicuous absence. A quick scan of the nearest _Daily Prophet_ produced no answers, and he resigned himself to checking tomorrow's edition as he turned his attention to his upcoming defence lesson.

**The Wizengamot**

In the waiting chambers allocated to the Ancient and Noble House of Black, attached to the family box that provided the older houses with much more comfort and privacy than the public gallery within the Wizengamot council chamber, Sirius was, for the first time ever, excited about attending a Wizengamot session. Today was the day, Arcturus had hinted, that they would reveal exactly what the effects of the latest law was. He and Arcturus were impeccably turned out in ridiculously expensive robes of black, worn over black trousers and black shirts. The family crest was picked out in a much darker black in the centre of the chest, the V of the collar of their official robes drawing further attention to it. Sirius wasn't entirely sure what it was made of, but it seemed to be trying to draw in all the light in the room and was consequently impossible to ignore. Remus was dressed in almost identical attire minus the council member's over-robes, and his robes and undershirt were sleeveless, the tattoo of the Black family crest clearly visible on his right shoulder that was clearly visible and had drawn several surprised stares when they first entered the chamber. Sirius grinned at his friend as he grumbled and rubbed at the still fresh mark. Remus had been right, Fiona had gone spare, and for some reason blamed everything on Sirius. He turned his attention to the other bright spot of his morning, the attractive young witch Arcturus had introduced as Rebecca Strithe, his personal secretary who was adeptly balancing a folder in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, an occasional page turn conducted by magic.

"Please, Lord Black, stop oggling me." The amused comment bought him out of his musings and he switched to his most charming smile.

"Not oggling, Rebecca - may I call you Rebecca? Merely mesmerised by your beauty." She rolled her eyes but smiled anyway.

"I'm terribly sorry to interrupt your flirtations, Sirius" came Arcturus' dry comment "but I believe we are due back in the chamber." A quartet of the Higgins Security Group moved into the family box first, blending in with the shadows at the back, two more taking up positions outside the door.

Making his way in and glancing around, Sirius saw the now mostly full public gallery - while the twelve boxes for the Ancient and Noble Houses that had formed the first council when Merlin had created the Wizengamot were almost always occupied, either by the family representative or a nominated proxy, the public gallery was rarely more than half full. Indeed it had started relatively empty that morning, though when someone had noticed that the majority of the wizards and witches trickling in were aligned to the Light, Sirius suspected a call had gone out and the hall was now much more evenly balanced. He took the heir's seat to his grandfather's right, Remus taking one to the left and earning several hostile stares from the more conservative members of the council.

As he looked around, he tried to work out which of them looked as if they were eager for the events of the afternoon before giving it up as a hopeless task - too many just looked like they were looking forward to escaping the chamber, and Sirius couldn't blame them. The only reason he was there and had delayed the start of his new job until the following day was because he knew what was coming, and while Arcturus had mentioned that his allies within the chamber were also aware that something had been planned, Sirius had yet to be introduced to the figures his grandfather worked with in the political shadows. He considered with a carefully masked smirk that they were probably not the traditional Black family allies that he had been aware of before he ran away and recognised in the public gallery, many of whom were sending angry looks his way.

He saw Albus Dumbledore, his light green robes with neon orange pinstripes that seemed to move in a pattern specifically designed to inspire nausea only partly covered by his official purple robes, resuming his position on the raised dais in the centre of the chamber. Sirius thought it was the outfit was a particularly inspired choice considering the sickness that many of those within the audience might be feeling shortly, though he wasn't sure if he was part of Arcturus' alliance, and considering the headmaster's advancing years and odd dress sense, it could also have been happy coincidence.

Today's session, as with most, had been divided into four distinct parts and had taken up the whole day. The morning session first dealt with the minutes and any issues raised during the previous session, which had prompted a few brief comments about the restrictive nature of the new Magical Creature legislation though, as Arcturus had pointed out to Sirius and Remus and was now pointed out to the council by the Supreme Mugwump, the law had been passed with over 70% of the vote and as attendance had been above 90%, the law could not be repealed for a minimum of five years. Next were any proposals for new legislation, a mind numbingly dull period that had taken them to the lunch break. Third was the discussion of any general issues, providing opportunities for Ludo Bagman to give an update on the progress towards hosting the Quidditch World Cup the following summer and further appeals for funding from Amelia Bones as Head of the DMLE, who was desperate for an increase in training funds, something also called for by the Head of St Mungo's a greying and widely respected doctor of both magical and muggle medicine, Jurgen Muller. The proposals for both were submitted to the clerk and copies distributed to all members of the Wizengamot to be considered and voted on at the following session.

The Wizengamot clerk, a nervous, mousey looking man named Andrew Drumknott, stood for the fourth time, calling for any legal announcements or cases that would require either the attention or confirmation by the Wizengamot, or a panel of judges to be drawn from the council. Sirius beat a rhythm on his thigh with his fingers as one of the minor Houses announced an alliance with another minor house and had it recognised with no further protest.

"Stop fidgeting." Muttered Arcturus, casting an irritated glance at his grandson as he stood, the only indication that the normally ice-cool aristocrat was in the least bit apprehensive about this afternoon's event.

"The Wizengamot recognises Lord Arcturus Black of The Ancient and Noble House of Black." Announced Drumknott reading from his parchment of those who had been granted their request to speak to the chamber.

"Thank you" Arcturus acknowledged him with a slight bow of the head, gazing around the other council members "I am pleased to formally announce the appointment of Sirius Orion Black as my heir, ratified by law, documents have been signed, delivered and recognised by Gringotts. Secondly is the confirmation of the completion of the adoption process of Harry James Potter by my heir, Harry's legal guardian, Sirius Orion Black. The adoption has been confirmed by law, recognised by Gringotts and approved by me - he is now Harry James Black-Potter." There was a polite smattering of applause, though no real surprise at the announcement. "Lastly is the announcement of the formal protection of the werewolf Remus John Lupin by the Ancient and Noble House of Black. The paperwork was submitted on Friday for inspection by the Department for the Control of Magical Creatures and I have received confirmation this morning that everything is in order. His mark, as required by law, is bound by soul magic to the Head of the House, in this instance myself, and will be transferred on my death to my heir, Sirius Orion Black, or to my Great-Grandson, Harry James Black-Potter."

At this there was a murmur of surprise - many, especially the lighter leaning families, had thought that there would be a severe backlash against the latest legislation before anyone registered, and for a werewolf such as Lupin and his widely known political standpoint to be the first to publicly stand up in support for it was a surprise. Sirius noted Lucius Malfoy sneering in triumph as he looked across the chamber at them. A casual glance showed Mooney's stoic expression as he stared blankly out across the chamber, prompting a surge of pity for his best friend. Dumbledore was staring up at them, concern and confusion clear on his face at this turn of events.

Arcturus sat down, earning a shocked look from Sirius.

"What are you doing?" He hissed of his Grandfather "You didn't…"

"Shut up and watch." Arcturus cut him off. Sirius glared back at him before turning his attention back to the chamber.

"The floor recognises our final speaker of today's session, Madam Alice Longbottom, representative of the Longbottom family." Came the introduction from Drumknott. Sirius swallowed his annoyance and turned to see the woman who, as Lilly's best female friend, had been such a part of all their lives up until 1981 as she made her way forward to the front of the Longbottom's box, grasping the railing at the front with both hands as she cast a look across the chamber. Her eyes met his own and paused for a moment before continuing on. He sighed, feeling guilty for not reaching out to her or Frank before now.

The changes were not as dramatic as he had feared for a woman suffering the long-term effects of over-exposure to the Cruciatus curse, but still evident. The grasping of the rail was, according to Arcturus, a method by which she stopped her hands from shaking as well as providing support for her trembling legs and when she spoke, she was interrupted by a sporadic stutter. She was still a formidable looking woman, carrying herself with a confidence gained from long hours arguing frequently unpopular points in front of hostile audiences, begging for funding for charities that supported victims of dark curses, equal opportunities for muggle borns and the magically afflicted, as well as several other charities that were regarded as Light-friendly, all this despite the stammer that affected her speech. She looked older than she should have, Sirius decided, carrying more lines than would normally be expected for a woman in her mid-thirties, a thick streak of white in her otherwise dark hair giving her a stripe much like a badger's.

By all accounts she was considered by the Pure-Blood faction as an irritating do-gooder but he was still surprised to see several members of that faction slipping out not-so-discretely, an insult that was studiously ignored by Alice but prompted a buzz of angry muttering amongst her supporters. Lucius, Sirius saw, had allowed a flicker of irritation to show before adopting a carefully sculpted expression of boredom, examining his fingernails as Alice made her statement.

"Chief Mugwump, my Lords, Ladies, esteemed members of the Wizengamot… you are all a-aware of the work that I do for various charities, helping those who p-perhaps struggle to help themselves and I am both c-cognisant and grateful for the support that m-many of you have given at our f-fundraisers in the past." Sirius noted many warm smiles, especially from Dumbledore and from those who supported the causes and a few looks of trepidation from those no doubt expecting her to ask them to open their wallets again.

"I stand before you today, n-not to ask for your m-money, b-but to ask for justice. J-justice for those who suffered so much, who lost so m-much, during the dark days of the last war." _That got them to sit up and take notice_, thought Sirius as many Wizengamot members did exactly that, shaking off the boredom of the previous announcements and leaning forwards to get a better view of what was going on.

Sirius desperately tried to hide his smirk, realising that Arcturus had arranged this as well. He was probably right too, it would sound so much better to come from Alice than it would from Arcturus, or anyone else for that matter, to have a woman standing there who so obviously was one of the suffering she spoke of. "I ask for a panel of judges from this b-body, to determine the guilt of the Dark Wizard known as Lord V-Voldemort" Sirius could have sworn he saw the Wizengamot flinch as one, and he was entirely sure if the stutter was due to her affliction or a hesitation at saying the name "and exact remuneration." she had to raise her voice over the increasing noise coming from the chamber, repeating herself for emphasis "Remuneration for the damage his c-campaign of terror and hate inflicted upon our society." She glared fiercely out at the clamouring Wizengamot, waiting for the challenges that would no doubt come as soon as order could be restored.

Sirius could hear both loud protests at the measure, intermingled with loud cries of support that called for judgement. He smirked as he saw Lucius Malfoy turn to address an unseen servant in the shadows of his own box, no doubt sending runners to recall those who had left early. Several loud bangs came from the end of Dumbledore's wand, the ancient wizard on his feet and calling for order.

"I think that there would be few who would argue against the formation of such a panel of judges, or the accused's guilt" he quieted the loud cries of agreement from the Light-aligned families with raised hands, frowning up at Alice "however, Madame Longbottom, we have established that the wizard known as Lord Voldemort holds no property and what wealth he held was hidden away, the location of which was lost with his defeat in 1981." There was a grumble of support from those who had backed Voldemort's campaign. "I would also suggest that a re-opening of wounds after such a long time would, perhaps, only serve to pass on old grievances to the new generation." Again, there was a murmur of agreement with the statement from both sides, old memories resurfacing, forgotten feuds remembered, prompting angry looks to fly back and forth between families on both sides of the battle.

"I would argue, Supreme Mugwump" countered Alice smoothly, "that the outcome of this proposed action w-would finally allow those same wounds to h-heal, w-with any surplus put towards improving our s-society, ensuring that n-nothing like this can ever happen again." There was a long moment, the chamber filled with the excited rustle of whispered discussion. Lucius Malfoy had so far remained silent, staring contemplatively at the woman addressing the assembly. Sirius was surprised to see him stand and make his way towards the front of the chamber a hush in the voices greeting his indication that he wished to address the chamber.

"The Wizengamot recognises Lord Lucius Malfoy." Announced Drumknott. The Aristocrat ignored the announcement, looking at Alice as if she were a particularly intelligent child, but still, just a child.

"Madam Longbottom, I would like to volunteer my support for this most noble of causes, and also my time as a judge on this panel" there was another excited bubble of chatter, and the shock at someone every-one knew to have been a Voldemort supporter in favour of any action against him, before Malfoy continued, his trademark sneer creeping onto his face "however I would like to know how you intend to finance this legal action, and also where you believe the money will be drawn from for any… remuneration." His eyes were twinkling at almost Dumbledore-ian levels of amusement, a titter from the pure-blood faction greeting his comments.

Sirius could almost see the thoughts running through their heads: firstly that the Dark Lord had carefully hidden any funds away and therefore there would be nothing for them to win; secondly that that they would never be able to fund a legal battle of such scale; lastly, with Malfoy on the judges panel, he would be able to ensure that no verdict went against his defeated Master as any defeat would have too much of a negative impact on his political alliances and his public image.

Alice nodded her head in acknowledgement. Sirius wasn't sure but he could have sworn he saw a slight smile on her face, though it could also have been one of the small twitches that regularly afflicted her.

"I th-thank you for your support, Lord Malfoy, but to put your f-fears at rest..." now Sirius was certain, she was smiling. A flicker of annoyance crossed Malfoy's face at her reaction "financing has already been secured for p-prosecution…"

"Where?" Came the brusque interruption from Ignatius Nott. "Who is funding this fool's venture."

"I am." Sirius smirked as Arcturus spoke from beside him. "As part of a previously agreed settlement package between the Houses of Longbottom and Black for the damages caused by a daughter of this House, all monies owned by Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black have been re-distributed into a legal fund for this case."

"Unfortunately, those funds are now controlled by the Lestrange family lawyers until the death of the final Lestrange…" argued Ignatius, only to be cut off by Lord Black.

"Actually, as Head of the House of Black, and bound to the Lestrange family by marriage, as the only members of the Lestrange family are either incarcerated or currently on the run from said incarceration, control rests with me." The announcement was met by stunned silence.

"Im… impossible!" Spluttered Ignatius Nott, uncertainty written across his features. Sirius grinned across the chamber as a flicker of worry crossed Lucius' face.

"Oh entirely possible, I assure you." Came Arcturus' casual statement "And legal too - it was confirmed shortly after their incarceration." He made a show of accepting the legal documents handed over by Rebecca Strithe, attaching them to the clipboard at the front of the box and tapping them once with his wand, causing duplicates to be distributed throughout the chamber. "If you would check the documents, you will be able to see that control of the Lestrange family assets has been granted to the Head of the Black family. The second document" again attached to the clipboard and passed around with a wand-tap "details the pertinent points of the restitution package agreed between the Head of House Longbottom - Madame Augusta Longbottom, and myself as Head of House Black." Several shocked comments could be heard throughout the chamber as the size of the legal aid package was revealed, and consequently the potential scope for the battle.

"As to y-your second concern" Alice continued over the mutterings "remuneration will, in a-accordance with International Wizarding Law Article 93 p-part vi, and as practiced following the G-Grindlewald Campaign, be taken from m-members of his House and supporters." There was an uneasy silence. Sirius glanced around the chamber, seeing several very uncertain faces looking around for answers, and a very interested Dumbledore, who had reclaimed his seat and was watching the exchanges and stroking his fingers contemplatively through his beard.

"His House and supporters…" came Malfoy's soft observation "The Dark Lord does not have a House." Alice attached a sheaf of papers to the clipboard next to her and tapped it once with her wand, sending a copy of the law that had passed only the week before throughout the chamber. Malfoy glanced at it and raised a single carefully sculpted eyebrow.

"W-well besides the fact that the p-precedence from the Grindlewald campaign, re-remuneration was taken from house _and supporters_, in accordance with our law, v-voted for by y-you" Alice input, her amusement clear in her voice "any m-marked Death Eaters, forfeit p-property and f-financial control to their new House. I-in this case your 'Dark Lord'." Sirius saw the stunned expression on Malfoy's face, while Alice took full advantage of the moment. "However th-this is a new law and we should not a-apply it to old situations, b-but it brings n-nicely me to my next point, Lord Malfoy" and now she was openly grinning "unfortunately, though we are g-grateful for the offer, you will be unable to sit on the judges panel as you m-may well be one of those subject to judgment and required to c-contribute towards the restitution package." The entire chamber held its breath, waiting for the response.

"I was under the Imperius curse…" He began slowly.

"Of c-course, that y-you were under the Imperius while carrying out those c-crimes you were cleared of, as w-was confirmed by Dr von Hammersmark a-at the time, is not up for d-dispute." there was a slight pause as another sheaf of documents were passed to the clipboards. Sirius glanced down to see a medical report. He picked it up and flipped through the report titled: _A Study of Magical Bindings and the Dark Mark, by Doctor Gertrude von Hammersmark, German Institute of Magical Medicine_, eyes widening in realisation when he reached the highlighted passage. It was a delightful irony he thought - Malfoy, or indeed any other Death Eater, could not challenge the findings without challenging their own previous defence. "However, a-as this study proves, you c-could not take the mark under the I-Imperius. You had to enter into the a-agreement of your own free will. A-as such, you are, in f-fact liable to pay for damages that were due t-to your master's - sorry, Head of H-House's - orders." Sirius could almost see the expressions of realisation spread through the room and he struggled to swallow a rising bubble of laughter as Alice continued, savage enjoyment clear on her face "And a p-point to note, my esteemed colleagues, as M-Magical Creatures as d-defined by law, those bearing a mark are n-not allowed to hold public office and are th-therefore not allowed to address the members or v-vote within this chamber."

There was a split-second of silence as the message sunk in to the stunned audience, and then chaos broke out. Everyone was on their feet, furious cries fought to drown each other out as the surviving Death Eaters, all supporters of the recent change in law, realised that they had politically castrated themselves through their act of bigotry. Malfoy slumped back into his chair and Severus knew he would enjoy re-living this memory for some time to come. Then the spell fire began.

Several were targeted at the Black family box, only to be splash impotently against the defensive wards of the family seat, but the majority were sent towards Alice Longbottom, including three unmistakable green flashes. Screams of horror at the use of unforgivables in the council chamber were cut off as the spells smashed into her chest… and passed straight through, the image disappearing in a flash of spell-fire.

With a bang that left everyone clutching their ears against a vicious ringing, Albus Dumbledore stood, his magical aura flaring as he activated the wards that nullified magic within the chamber. They had been included by Merlin himself, a way of stopping political arguments from descending into magical duels (and part of the reason Godric Gryffindor had always carried a sword) and had not been needed in centuries, controlled only by the Supreme Mugwump and leaving only him, or her, with the ability to use magic. He glared at them now, focusing his ire on everyone present, not just the three men floating in the air and bound with conjured ropes.

"You are adults. You are members of the Wizengamot of Great Britain." He hissed angrily, sparks of static dancing the length of his beard, his words carried around the great room by a magical wind that forced them all back into their seats and making it sound like he was whispering from directly behind them, letting them hear nothing but his voice over the ringing in their ears. As the wind died, Dumbledore continued, aura still near-visible and a clear reminder as to why this was the one wizard who Voldemort had been afraid of. "Madam Longbottom…" A very sheepish looking Alice Longbottom walked forwards from her hiding place at the back of the Longbottom family box.

"F-forgive my illusion, Supreme M-Mugwump, but I feared m-my speech t-today would have a… w-well, would cause this." She said bashfully, waving a hand to indicate the chaos that had been sown.

"Indeed." Dumbledore said, voice quiet and carefully controlled after his previous outburst. His auror faded and his eyes regained a modicum of their previous twinkling as he cast a glance around the chamber reigning in his emotions. "It would seem wholly justified in this instance." There was a smattering of nervous laughter as the tension dropped a notch. He heaved a heavy sigh and the pressure holding the members of the council in their seats was released, their magic returning to them and lowering the three who had cast the Killing Curse into the waiting arms of the Aurors to be led away to the cells.

"I find, in accordance with my powers as Supreme Mugwump and chair of this ah, esteemed," Sirius snorted quietly in amusement at the least appropriate description possible, and Dumbledore's eyes twinkled in his direction "body, in favour of Madam Longbottom's proposal. There is indeed a case for restitution here, and also the possibility for recompense for the victims." He smiled up at them all. "The recommendations for judges are to be submitted to at next week's session, a full list of charges is to be compiled for review by the first week in November. Are there any questions?"

Lucius Malfoy moved forwards, looking significantly less controlled than he had before. Dumbledore ignored him, smiling benignly around the chamber. Malfoy cleared his throat loudly, and made to speak.

"I am sorry, Lord Malfoy, but it is my understanding that you have the Dark Mark? Yes?" Dumbledore didn't wait for a response "Good good, glad we cleared that up, back in your box now please."

It was all Sirius could do to stop himself laughing aloud and he allowed himself to admit that politics might not be that boring after all. _Sod it,_ he thought to himself _let's put cousin Lucy out of his misery_. He stepped forwards and received a nod by way of recognition.

"Thank you, Supreme Mugwump" he began, struggling and then giving up on keeping the amusement from his voice and the smile off his face "you must forgive me my ignorance as I have been absent from politics for some time… what is to happen with those of this _esteemed?_" he checked with Dumbledore, who was now also smiling, and confirming with a nod "esteemed body who bear the Dark Mark? Or any such other mark for that matter, Dark or otherwise?"

"An excellent question, Lord Black" Dumbledore smiled back up at him, now in full grandfather/teacher mode "and may I say a very warm welcome back to you? Indeed. Now as to your question, those members of the chamber who bear a mark of subservience, such as the one on Lord Malfoy's arm, or the one on Mr Lupin's shoulder there, are, in accordance with the law, not entitled to public office and are therefore not entitled to vote or address this chamber and the wards of this chamber will be modified to reflect this law. So to take an example, let's say… oh, Lord Malfoy here" he waved to the still standing and obviously completely flummoxed aristocrat. Dumbledore barely spared him a glance "Oh do close your mouth Lord Malfoy, you may be classed as a Magical Creature now, but there's no need for you to look like an oik. Now, as I was saying, in accordance with the law Lord Malfoy and so many other… interesting characters voted for" Sirius couldn't help it and let out a snigger of amusement "Magical Creatures may attend a session, however they are not allowed to speak before the chamber, they are not allowed to vote, nor influence the vote of another through their word or action, they are not allowed to own property, their personal accounts are held by those whose mark they bear… there is a whole lot more detail in the legal documents that were ratified by this body in last week's session, I would thoroughly recommend a look, it makes for a most interesting read."

"Thank you, Supreme Mugwump." Sirius said with a respectful nod before taking his seat again. He hadn't felt this happy since he'd seen Harry's performance of Thunderstruck.

/

"I really don't see what you're getting so upset about my dear, this is a good thing." Arcturus' voice was mild in the face of the furious woman stood before him.

"Don't 'my dear' me, you cantankerous old fool" she hissed, red spots of anger on her cheeks and eyes glaring "do you have any idea how much work you're likely to have caused me?"

"Umm… no?" Remus and Sirius were watching as Amelia Bones, the head of the DMLE, berated Lord Black.

They had been joined in the Black family chambers by Arcturus' key allies as soon as the Wizengamot had been dismissed. Alice Longbottom, who, along with her husband and mother-in-law, were the unofficial political leaders of the Light, coordinating the voting members of the Wizengamot in a way Dumbledore as Chief Mugwump couldn't (and with a certain ruthlessness that he would certainly shy away from, despite its necessity) was currently involved in an animated discussion with a witch of Middle-Eastern descent named Ishta Shafiq, who had greeted them with a friendly hello before resuming her conversation with Alice. Amelia Bones, a long running ally of Dumbledore and the Longbottoms, who Sirius had heard of, though never worked with during his first stint as an Auror and who even then had been admired as a highly motivated and principled individual. Alastor Moody had stumped in, glaring around the room with both his magical eye and his natural one for any threats before dumping himself down in a chair with his back to the wall, alternating between staring suspiciously at the other people present and swigging from his hip-flask. The last arrival, which had rather surprised Sirius, considering the man's family had been in Slytherin since Merlin knew when, was Lord Joshua Greengrass, who, along with Lady Shafiq, held significant influence with the centre of the political field and both had been key players in the events of the previous week.

"I have to say, Lord Greengrass, I am a little surprised to see you here." Sirius commented idly, keeping half an eye on the confrontation between Arcturus and Madam Bones as he poured them both a drink.

"Please, call me Josh." He smiled, accepting the proffered glass and raising it in salute to Sirius and Remus, who clinked with their own before they all turned to watch the showdown. "And yes, I suppose it would be, but then, did you ever expect to see your grandfather working with Madam Longbottom?" Sirius smiled and shrugged in acknowledgement. "No, Arcturus went to school with my father, I only started getting involved with him about five years ago, shortly after my father's death. He mentioned that he had a few ideas for addressing the laws on Magical Creatures - did you know my uncle was a vampire?" They both shook their heads "Disaster as far as the family was concerned of course, disowned the poor man, but he always used to send me Christmas presents, and he dotes on my girls… anyway, Arcturus said he had a plan and it had the added advantage of screwing over that prick Malfoy." He spotted their surprised looks and grimaced "He was a particular shit of a student at school, a few years below me. Convinced my little brother to join his idiotic master and got him killed." The sadness was evident in his voice even after all the years. "Such a shame. Nice boy, wrong crowd." He shook himself and turned away from Madam Bones and Arcturus, who apparently had managed to placate the irate head of the DMLE, facing them directly. "But enough of my maudlin memories, it is good to welcome you both back to the wizarding world."

They made polite small talk, swapping stories of their school years and their activities since leaving, until Arcturus cleared his throat loudly, attracting their attention.

"Well now, as Madam Bones has pointed out to me, quite enthusiastically I might add" his observation earned a chuckle from the rest of those gathered and a frown from the lady herself "we must discuss the ramifications of today's… revelations." He smiled at the memories before shaking himself back to the present. "Just because we have been able to remove the Death Eaters from the Wizengamot, does not mean their influence has gone - the pure-blood faction still has a fairly reasonable presence on the council, and they will no doubt continue to promote their agenda, though with much less support." A muted cheer went around the small group, prompting Arcturus to smile even as he hushed them.

"It's not all good news" snapped Madam Bones irritably "the only thing that was stopping many of them from going out and joining Lestrange and Pettigrew was that they valued their status too much - we've taken that from them and removed one of the major reasons for them keeping on this side of the law, and the DMLE are woefully under-resourced to deal with any threat that they may now pose." The previous good mood rapidly dissipated, as everyone considered the possibility that they may have just prompted a resurgence in Death Eater activity.

"You forget a very important fact, Amelia" Arcturus met her furious gaze with an irritatingly calm one of his own "who is it that runs the faction that normally scuppers your requests for additional funding? Or for Auror recruitment drives?"

"Malfoy" she snapped, and Arcturus gave her the expectant look of a teacher waiting for a student to expand on their answer. Sirius felt not a small amount of sympathy, knowing how irritating it was to be on the receiving end of that same look as Madam Bones' riled expression relaxed into a thoughtful one. "Hmmm. It's still going to be a while before any new Aurors are ready for the streets." Sirius could tell she was still far from happy, but at least didn't look quite so concerned as she had been.

"I might know of a private security firm who could assist your Aurors in the mean time. For a fee, of course." And Amelia was back to glaring at him

"Of course, ever the business man, aren't you Arcturus? Always ready to make a profit." She bit off angrily.

"Of course" he agreed "that's why I'm a _successful_ business man, Amelia." Sirius and Remus glanced at each other, wondering at Arcturus' apparently less than altruistic motives.

"May I suggest that we move on?" Interrupted Lord Greengrass in an attempt to play peacemaker.

"Actually, I think Amy might have a point" countered Mad-Eye Moody in his characteristic low grumble "we can expect those affected to want some form of retaliation for their ousting, even if it was their own fault." he allowed with a smile that looked somewhat demonic on his heavily scarred face "And you, Alice, you can expect a lot of their displeasure to be targetted your way. They're going to try and disrupt your case against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in any way possible, and that will include attacks against you and your family." Moody's statement resulted in an uncomfortable silence as they considered the possibility, the memory of the Killing Curses flying across the Wizengamot fresh in everyone's mind.

"What action can we expect the Death Eaters to take?" Asked Ishta in a surprisingly deep voice, dark eyes contemplative as she placed a comforting hand on Alice's shoulder.

"Long term?" Asked Joshua Greengrass rhetorically, letting out a sigh. "The smart ones will wait five years and then begin a campaign for having the laws overturned by any allies they have remaining or through their proxies - remember, the Houses haven't lost the seat, it's the individual, so Malfoy's will pass to his wife - assuming she doesn't have the Mark as well?" Arcturus gave a small shake of his head at the question and Sirius wondered just how much contact his grandfather still had with Narcissa as Joshua continued "until his son is of age, unless he nominates another proxy or if the law is overturned."

"And the stupid ones?" Asked Alice, her expression grim. Moody snorted and took over the assessment.

"Join Bellatrix and Pettigrew, try and establish a power base to overthrow the ministry." Once again his bluntness prompting concerned looks between those assembled in the room. "We can expect any of age and unmarked members of the families to continue the fight on their behalf in the Wizengamot, but the idiots will be idiots and probably bring themselves to the attention of Amy and the DMLE soon enough." Amelia Bones nodded, casting another irritated glance towards Arcturus who rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"We seem to be missing the point here" Lord Black put in. "We have successfully passed a law that will allow us five years to progress as much as possible in the areas that Malfoy and the other Death Eaters stalled or blocked completely." he raised a hand at Joshua opening his mouth to interrupt "Yes, I know they have their proxies, however, they will be fresh to the Wizengamot, unused to the way things work around here and to being responsible without having someone watching over their shoulder and may not even share their predecessor's political viewpoints. We will also have plenty of opportunity to convince them around to our way of thinking and besides, they may not wish to rescind their power in five years. This really is an excellent opportunity for us." He smiled encouragingly at them, receiving several nods from thoughtful faces.

"What about their kids?" Sirius asked after a moment of pensive quiet. Slowly every eye, with the exception of Moody's magically enhanced one that continued to sweep the room and track people moving through the corridors and chambers around them, turned to Sirius. "What is the likelihood that their kids will retaliate for them, politically or otherwise?" Lord Greengrass' face went stony and Alice's went completely ashen.

"Harry?" Asked Moody, quietly. Sirius nodded.

"Or Neville, or your girls, Josh, or your niece, Amy." He cast a glance to Ishta, who shook her head, expression grim despite not having children at Hogwarts.

"I'd recommend warning them." Moody advised, doing his best to soften his voice and look sympathetic though it was really just another shade of scary from his mangled face. Alice Longbottom gave a shaky nod and took a large gulp of what had been a celebratory glass of champagne.

"Neville wrote to me saying that he had been… encouraged to join Harry's morning exercise." She muttered quietly "I think I might have to write and tell his father to give them some extra lessons as well." There was a mumble of agreement from those with children at Hogwarts.

"Harry's having them already," Sirius provided, missing the dirty look he got from Arcturus "I'll speak to his tutors, let them know the names of your kids and to expect them. They should be aware that they can get a little… physical though." He remembered seeing Harry's first compound fracture, wincing at the memory of the cry of pain and thinking it spoke wonders of the kid that he stood back up almost straight away and demanded a re-match. Alice nodded gratefully, as did Lord Greengrass and Madam Bones.

"It may also be worth reaching out to the heirs of those who have been removed from the Wizengamot" mused Lord Greengrass "it is possible that pointing out that their parents have been removed from the positions of authority that have protected them thus far will curtail any plans they may have for retaliation."

"Contact directly with them could be seen as an attempt to undermine the current Heads' authority" commented Moody "an aggressive act against vulnerable houses, that sort of thing. Might drive them even further away, and their children after them too."

"Hmm" Arcturus let out the thoughtful sound. "Perhaps we should work something into a statement for our side of the press release. Miss Strithe, if you would?" The young witch passed around the statement that Arcturus would read to the press, and the group descended into a discussion about how they could best mitigate the effects of the latest Wizengamot ruling.

It took almost an hour before they were all completely happy with the wording of the press statement, a carefully crafted announcement to be delivered to the associated press by Alice Longbottom as the public face of their campaign, that would hopefully make it clear to all but the stupidest that the current legislation would not affect the houses as a whole, only those with the Dark Mark. As Moody pointed out with a twisted smile on his scarred face that could just as easily have been a frown, the idiots would fight against them eventually anyway and merely use this as an excuse.

"Just before you all leave," Arcturus called, halting their departure, Ishta's hand already on the door "the Higgins Security Group will be having their annual summer BBQ at their property in Hogsmeade, and I am delighted to extend an invitation to you all. It will also give us the opportunity to discuss our future plans in a little more detail once the dust has settled after today's announcements." There were various nods around the room, and Sirius was quick to intercept Alice before she left, dragging Remus along behind him.

"Alice…" He was sure he shouldn't be nervous, but then, it had been thirteen years without contact. She turned towards him and there was the old Alice he had known, quirky smile on her face that prompted a bubble of warmth to well up in his chest. A sudden spasm twisted the smile a little too far into a grimace, a stark reminder that so much had changed, for both of them, since they had last seen each other. The look of sadness and concern on his face must have been obvious, because she rolled her eyes, pulling them both into a firm hug.

"It's good to see you two i-idiots again." She said, breaking free and holding them at arms length. "Nice ink." She said, a small chuckle of laughter prompting Sirius to snigger with amusement even as Remus punched him on the arm.

"Ow" he rubbed his arm, grinning goofily back at her "good to see you too. How's Frank's teaching coming along?"

"Well. I th-think it's more tiring than he e-expected though." She finished with a shrug. "I'll b-bring him to the BBQ, I know he'd like to see you b-both."

"That'd be good, we'd like to see him too, and your Neville." Remus added with a warm smile. Alice smiled, then narrowed her eyes at Sirius.

"Speaking of which, you and I need to have words about your last meeting with my son." Sirius gulped and plastered on his best innocent face.

"It was all his fault." He insisted, pointing the blame squarely at Lord Black.

"Absolutely preposterous." Arcturus insisted, joining them and getting ready to refute the claims.

"Whatever. I've got my eyes on you two. Three." She added, indicating Remus as well despite his indignant cry. "But that's for another day." She sighed, drawing herself up and turning towards the door. "Time to face the music."

They bid her good luck, with a promise to meet up soon to catch each other up on their past dozen years and walked with her to the main lobby, shamelessly abandoning her to the gathered press and making a beeline for the Floo back to the Black country house they had made their home.

"You're home." Stated Fiona, flicking through a magazine and not looking up from her position on the sofa.

"Hello, darling." Remus greeted her nervously. Arcturus and Sirius glanced at each other, engaging in the telepathic communication exclusive to all men when one of their number has an irate girlfriend and they wish to extract themselves. They sidled carefully out of the room, ignoring the pleading looks sent their way from their abandoned friend that turned into an accusatory glare as they made good their escape.

"Don't you fucking darling me, _darling!_" They heard as Sirius quietly slid the door to the hallway shut, turning to follow Arcturus upstairs to his study.

He strode directly to the window, staring out over the beautifully austere landscape of Devon, gratefully accepting a glass of whiskey from Arcturus who stood next to him, clipping and lighting a cigar, taking an appreciative puff before exhaling with a long sigh.

"I love it when a plan comes together." Arcturus mused, mostly to himself. Sirius glanced at him before looking back out of the window. "What? And don't say nothing." His grandson huffed a sigh, turning to regard him carefully for a long moment before he spoke.

"This action could result in Harry becoming a target - more of a target" he corrected himself "than he is already, as a way of trying to influence us and the case."

"Yes" agreed Arcturus "as we said earlier, and as we discussed, we have taken measures to address that possibility." Sirius glared at him.

"Had you let us know earlier, we could have warned him." Arcturus sighed.

"Would it have helped?"

"Yes!" Snapped Sirius, earning a moderately peeved look from his grandfather. "And you didn't do yourself any favours with Amelia by profiteering over the matter and pushing for work for the HSG guys." Arcturus shrugged.

"Family first, always, and that includes the Higgins brothers and their team." He turned to resume staring out of the window, puffing thoughtfully on his cigar. "But I would add that Harry is more than capable of looking after himself, if I didn't truly believe that, I would, of course, have given him a warning. In fact the vow I made you when I first bought you back into the family would have stopped me from doing so. By all means though, send him a message now to let him know to be extra careful. As our dear friend Alastor says - 'Constant Vigilance'"

"You welcomed us into the family?! We welcomed you into ours!" Sirius argued, his irritation clear in his tone. Arcturus stared at him for a long moment.

"Who is the head of this family?" He asked, semi-rhetorically.

"You are."

"Indeed I am." He responded, eyes narrowed a little. "When you are head of this family, you may run it in the manner that you see fit, however until that day…" He trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid but clear: _Shut up and do what you're told._ "And while we're on the topic, what exactly was your logic in advertising Harry's additional lessons when we had agreed to keep them secret?"

"From our enemies, these are our allies!"

"It doesn't matter!" Arcturus' exasperation began showing through and he jabbed his finger towards Sirius to drive home his point. "They are our allies today, twenty years ago they wouldn't have spared a glass of water if you were on fire."

"Frank and Alice would have. Did more than that on occasion too!" Sirius shot back, just as angry. "Perhaps you've been on your own so long that you've forgotten how to work with others, old man, but that's how these things work…"

"I know how these things work, _boy_" snapped Arcturus, cutting him off "I've been representing this House in that chamber since before you were born, and I've walked out a winner more times than not, you'd do well to remember that."

Sirius glared at him but didn't bother to reply, bolting the rest of his drink before leaving the room to draft a warning letter to Harry.

/

Harry felt the slightest flutter of nerves as he sat down for dinner that evening with Neville and the twins. Lee hurried over to join them, looking just the least bit put out that he had his back to the rest of the hall.

"We all set?" He asked, glancing around the group. Neville gave a nervous nod.

"We're not going to get into trouble for this are we?" He asked, eyes flitting from one face to the next.

"Nope." Harry said firmly. The twins gave each other their own nervous looks before shrugging and mumbling into their glasses.

"Maybe." Came Lee's contribution as he held his own glass of pumpkin juice up, staring at it critically, taking a tentative sip. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Live a little, guys." He downed his drink and poured himself another. "Bottoms up."

When the hall had been filled for almost ten minutes, everyone chattering happily away over their dinner, it happened. A heavy metal guitar riff silenced all conversation. Harry hid his grin with a mouthful of his dinner and the first lyrics came out loud and clear.

"_We're not gonna take it!_

_No, we ain't gonna take it_

_We're not gonna take it, any more!"_

Amused smiles cropped up around the hall, a few even nodding their heads to the beat as the song carried straight on into the second verse

"_Oh you're so condescending_

_Your goal is never ending_

_We don't want nothin', not a thing from you_

_Your life is trite and jaded_

_Boring and confiscated_

_If that's your best, your best won't do."_

By the time the chorus came around again, Harry could even see the Headmaster with a small smile on his face, gently waving his hands as if conducting an orchestra with his fork. As the music faded away, the next stage kicked in ironically affecting Harry first, though he only twigged when he suddenly became the recipient of several curious stares. He went cross-eyed trying to look at his own head before there was an outraged shout from the Ravenclaw table.

He grinned, recognising Percy Weasley's girlfriend staring at her hair in shock, her blonde tresses now streaked in blue and bronze. Seconds later there was a Hufflepuff, a curly haired boy, whose head suddenly looked like a bumblebee as it patched through in yellow and black. It started happening faster and faster, and soon every member of every house was sporting their house colours. Harry's grin widened as he saw Professor McGonagall sharing an amused comment with Pomona Sprout and Filius Flitwick, their heads also dyed away from the usual.

"I think we'll be alright." He said with a smirk to Neville, who heaved a sigh of relief.

"Oh thank Merlin. Aw, shit." Dumbledore had stood, calling for silence and attention. The aged wizard stared out across the hall, expression stern. Harry was certain the Headmaster's gaze lingered on his section of the table just a little longer than it had to and he felt Neville cringe beside him.

"For the record" he began, in a serious tone that matched his gaze, raising a hand and indicating the hall and everyone's coloured hair with a wave before his eyes began twinkling like mad "this is an acceptable prank." A raucous cheer greeted the announcement that Dumbledore allowed to continue for a moment before quieting them "And I am also very pleased to announce that this weekend will be the first of many Hogsmeade weekends for those of you with signed permission slips. Remember though, these trips are a privilege, not a right, and they will be removed from those who cannot abide by the simple rules imposed for the occasion."

He sat down just as his own hair turned a truly horrific combination of all the house colours, lifting his beard to examine it more closely with a look of pleased surprise. There was another moment of nervous silence as the students waited to see what his reaction would be at being included in the prank, before a cheer broke out as he raised his glass in salute to the unidentified pranksters. Harry wasn't certain but he could have sworn he saw the headmaster wink in his direction.

"Have you noticed that the only member of staff who doesn't seem to appreciate our efforts is Snape?" Commented Harry idly as the man in question glared towards them, apparently not appreciating his lank hair changing from black to Slytherin silver and green. The others didn't even need to look up at the staff table to believe it.

"That's just Snape, always miserable." Lee informed him, the twins nodded in agreement.

"You know I don't think I've ever seen him smile? Not even when Slytherin win the cup." Supplied Neville. "Who knows, maybe if he were happy he wouldn't be such an awful teacher."

"Yeah, but that's Snape, if he were happy it's be..." Fred joined in, searching for a suitable description for a happy Snape.

"Weird?" Tried George, and his brother nodding in agreement.

"Maybe he just needs to get good and drunk." Laughed Neville, prompted sniggers of amusement from the rest of them at the thought of a loaded Snape.

"Now there's a thought." Mused Harry as they got up to make their way back towards the Gryffindor tower.

"Potter." Came the growl as they left the Hall. Harry turned to see a very unhappy Daphne Greengrass, arms folded and scowl on face.

"Greengrass." He greeted her cautiously, waving the others to carry on without him. "Can I just say how fetching those colours are on you?"

"No, you can't." She snapped. "How long till it wears off?"

"I definitely have absolutely no idea what you mean." He insisted innocently, though he may have been given away by the smile that threatened to split his face in half.

"Cut the shit, _Potter_, how long?" He rolled his eyes, only serving to increase her anger, and Daphne started to tap her foot in irritation.

"I would imagine that whichever, smart, funny, no doubt devilishly good-looking…"

"How. Long?" She bit out, interrupting him.

"It'll probably clear by tomorrow afternoon." He said, raising his hands placatingly. She huffed, turning her head. "What's the matter?" He asked teasingly, reaching out to flick her now silver and green hair "Not feeling the School spirit?"

"Fuck off!" She snapped, batting his hand away. He grinned at her.

"You really should learn to take a joke." He admonished. "It's a good look."

"Speaking of looks" she narrowed her eyes at him "how do you think Flint is going to take this?"

"Flint?" He asked, a little confused "What's he got to do with anything?"

It was Daphne's turn to smirk at him as she waved a hand to incorporate their hair "He hardly had the best sense of humour in the first place, and you can guarantee that this won't go down particularly well before your inevitable re-match." Harry grinned and shrugged.

"I'm sure I can deal with Flint." He responded flippantly, waving off her concern. She gave him a very curious look before nodding to herself.

"Thought so." Confusion was clear on Harry's face.

"Huh?" The smirk came back on Daphne's lips and Harry allowed himself to admit that she was actually quite cute in an I-am-so-much-better-than-you-so-don't-even-try-it sort of way.

"You let him win." A flicker of realisation was replaced with carefully schooled neutrality. "Don't try to deny it either. I don't know why you did it, but you did."

_How the fuck do I come back to that?_ Thought Harry desperately, settling for a shrug. She smiled angelically.

"And that proves it."

"You're too Ravenclaw to be in Slytherin." He muttered quietly.

"And that faked loss was too Slytherin for a Gryffindor." She responded quickly, before leaning in with a wink "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

He stared at her retreating back, expression thoughtful. _Well this could be interesting. _His inner monologue commented as he turned towards the dorms. _Couldn't it just_ he agreed with himself.

_A/N Thanks for reading! Again, if you liked it, please read and review. Not too sure when I'll get the next chapter up (hopefully soon) but it should cover the repercussions at Hogwarts hinted at here, Quidditch tryouts and one or two other moments if I can work them in._

_YA_

_Notsoancientmariner_


	15. Chapter 15

_A/N: Well, shit. I turn around for a moment and all of a sudden the views spike, favs are over a hundred, views have hit 15k, and I'm at 89 reviews. A huge thank you to all of you who have read and reviewed, please do keep them coming. I know previously I've said I'll try to reply to each of them in person (and I will continue to do so) but I also assume you would rather I write more than reply and while I'm working I don't have time to do both, however, they are all greatly appreciated. _

_Also, sorry for the wait on this chapter, I couldn't find a decent stopping point, hence it being a bit longer than most of the others. Lastly, a special thanks to Jamnaz 79, whose recommendation has apparently bought many of you here and whose work you should check out if you haven't already. I hope I live up to the expectations!_

On reaching his dorm room, Harry found the Little Owl that Sirius had bought to keep at Hogsmeade for the short flight up to Hogwarts tapping patiently at the window. He let it in and the small bird glided swiftly to his shoulder, entranced by the new colouring of Harry's hair, holding out a leg for Harry to remove the letter attached to it.

"Ow!" He swatted the owl away as it tried to pull a beak full of hair from his head. "You little shit, Perky." The owl hooted at him, swiftly flying out of reach as he grumbled his complaint, unrolling the parchment.

_Harry,_

_Be careful. The latest legislation has targeted the Death Eater Old Guard, check tomorrow's paper for more detail but they've lost a lot of their power and their children may well choose to target you by way of retaliation. Neville Longbottom, Daphne Greengrass and Susan Bones may also be targets - their parents or guardians were the ringleaders and will be writing to them personally, however I would ask that you keep your eye on them as much as you can over the coming weeks. They will also be offered the opportunity to join you in your extra defence lessons._

_On a lighter note, the Higgins BBQ is this weekend - if it is a Hogsmeade weekend, you are more than welcome to come down with some of your friends._

_Hope you're well and staying in trouble,_

_S._

Harry laid it to one side and lay back on his bed to think. He wasn't overly worried about the threat posed to himself, he had seen what the Slytherin's usual tactics were and was confident that he could combat their standard 'blunt force and ignorance' approach. There was, however, a twinge of concern over the threat that might be posed to the others. Having them join in his defence lessons was probably a good idea, but he did wonder exactly how they might fare with the rather physical approach that Mr Smith and Sam Jackson had taken to imparting their wisdom.

He turned his thoughts to the other kids that might be targeted. Neville's physical fitness would slowly improve with their morning sessions and so long as he wasn't scared off by the extra training, he'd probably be able to hold his own with most of the senior students by Christmas, sooner against those in the third year. Harry had a sneaking suspicion that anyone who tried to get to Daphne would be in for a rude surprise, if her knowledge of Runes was anything to go by and considering the speed with which she had cast against him in the duelling club. He had no idea about the other. He checked the name again. Susan Bones. He wasn't too sure who she was, but the name conjured up a vague image of a plain-looking Hufflepuff, though the same could also be said of any one he hadn't become familiar with in his first week or so at school.

Harry's musings were interrupted by a nervous knock at the door. He looked up and grinned at Neville, who stood there, clutching a piece of parchment in one hand and looked very worried, waving him in to take a seat even as Harry pushed himself up.

"What's up?" Harry asked, knowing full well what the problem was. Neville thrust the letter at him to look at, wiping his hands on his trousers and ignoring the seat in favour of pacing back and forth.

Harry scanned through the letter, which said much the same as Sirius': a warning that there may well be an attack by way of retaliation for his mother leading the charge against the Death Eaters. He stopped reading after the warning when it turned towards more standard mother-son missives of hoping he was eating properly and studying hard, handing the letter back to the other boy.

"Fun stuff huh?" Harry tried with a grin "Who'd have thought that a Wizengamot session could be interesting." Apparently his social commentary didn't help and Neville gave him a dubious stare before continuing with trying to wear a hole in the carpet.

"What are we going to do?" Neville asked with a wail, finally slumping onto the foot of Harry's bed. "I mean, most of Slytherin already hates us for what we've done to them and you can guarantee that the ringleaders are probably going to be the ones whose parents were affected." He thrust the letter from his mother back towards Harry "Look, Malfoy! And I know Flint's dad managed to skive away from Azkaban as well so he's going to be pissed too-"

"More pissed." Corrected Harry, interrupting him and completely ignoring the note as he rummaged in his trunk.

"What?" Neville was now confused, his desperate spiel forgotten. Harry turned to him with a smile, a small and rather battered text in his hand.

"More pissed." Harry repeated "Flint was already pissed with us. Well, he was with me anyway, so I guess you were part right."

"Oh I'm so glad we agree." Neville snapped back, layering on the sarcasm. "I refer you back to my initial question: What are we going to do?" Harry ignored the tone of voice and passed Neville his own letter from home.

"We're going to train you up to not be such a pussy to start with," Harry responded, his grin taking the sting out of his words "then maybe when you've realised that you can beat them you'll start fighting back. Besides, what makes you think they'll be coming for us?" Neville looked at him as if he had grown a second head.

"Are you retarded?" He asked, very slowly.

"Probably!" Came a familiar voice from the doorway. Neville turned to see one of the twins standing there with a grin on his face. "But sometimes people do confuse genius with stupidity. What's he done that gave you that impression this time?"

"Neville's getting the jitters because his mum's part of something that may prompt our mutual foes in Salazar's snake-pit to target us." The twin turned thoughtful, taking a good look at Neville and seeing just how upset he was about it. He put his head back into the stairwell.

"Fred! Lee! Get your arses up here, now!" George bellowed, earning a scolding shout from one of the prefects. There was a clatter up the stairs and the other two arrived in short order. George waved them in and shut the door behind them as they made their way towards Harry and Neville, who both shifted to make room for them.

"What's up?" Asked Lee, giving a concerned look at Neville before directing his question at Harry.

"News from home." They passed their letters around, prompting Neville to blush as Fred gleefully pointed to the _Love to our special man, Mum_ at the end of his letter out to George and Lee. Harry plucked it from their fingers before the teasing could go any further "Now you know as much as we do. Though if my grandfather was involved and judging by my godfather's enthusiasm for it before it began, we can expect it to have been pretty big."

They were interrupted by the door opening to reveal the youngest Weasley male. He took two paces into the room before seeing his brothers and Lee, completely missing Harry and Neville.

"Huh. Sorry, must have gone up an extra floor. Thought this was my room." Ron said, turning and walking out again. Fred's head sank into his hands while George closed his eyes and sighed tiredly. When he opened them again he saw everyone not a Weasley staring at the twins in amusement.

"I promise not everyone in our family is that thick." The others grinned.

"We'd like to be able to tell you he was adopted, but..." Fred trailed off with a shrug. Lee snorted with laughter, apparently more than familiar with the twins' opinion of their younger brother.

"Aren't we forgetting something?" Neville asked, waving the letters by way of reminder.

"Meh" Harry responded with a shrug "not much we can do - " He was cut off as the door opened, revealing a rather irate looking Ron Weasley.

"This _is_ my room! What are you - "

"Piss off, Ron!" Shouted the twins in unison. His mouth gaped like a fish as he tried to think of a response for being kicked out of his own room.

"If you wouldn't mind giving us a couple of minutes?" Asked Harry, with his best attempt at a friendly smile for the other boy "We were just in the middle of discussing something rather important." He didn't look happy about it, but after a moment's consideration, Ron turned and left the room with a huff of annoyance.

"Might as well wait to see what it was in tomorrow's papers." Lee said as he left. "Harry's right, there isn't much to do until we know what they're pissed about." Neville nodded miserably in agreement. Fred waved for Harry's letter and scanned it again quickly before handing it back.

"How's this for a thought though: for the next couple of days we'll take turns keeping an eye on the Map. If we see anything suspect, like one of us surrounded by a bunch of mini Death Eaters - "

"Death Nibblers?" offered his brother, the suggestion met with a smile of thanks and a nod to carry on with the offer. "We can come and help." Neville smiled gratefully, a large portion of his earlier nerves dissipating, realising that the offer was primarily for him but accepting the cover provided by George's offer.

"You do realise that this is the third year dorm?" Came an imperious demand from the doorway. They turned to see Percy Weasley stood there, Ron stood in the corridor, smirking triumphantly at his victory.

"So what are you doing here?" Asked Fred cheekily.

"I'm the - "

"Big-Head Boy!" chimed the twins, cutting him off and giving each other a high-five even as they stood from Harry's bed and sauntered towards the door.

"Don't worry, Perce, we were just leaving." The most anal-retentive of the Weasleys that Harry had had the dubious pleasure of meeting scowled at them as they made their exit, Lee following on their heels and offering a quick apology as he passed. Percy sniffed angrily, watching to make sure they actually went up stairs before turning and following them, presumably making his way to his own quarters as opposed to watching them as they brushed their teeth and washed their faces like good little boys, though Harry wasn't entirely sure.

Ron grinned as he came in, striding triumphantly over towards Harry's bed and dropping himself down in the newly vacated space.

"So" he began, possibly ignoring, though more likely oblivious to, the hostile looks he was getting from Harry and Neville "what were you talking about?"

"Neville was just providing me with an interesting interpretation on today's Wizengamot session and his concerns about the ramifications on the latest legislation and the potentially far reaching effects it might have in the wider wizarding community." Harry wasn't sure if it was the long words he had used or the topic of the Wizengamot that prompted a glazed look in Ron's eyes, but he didn't particularly care. "Anyway, we were just finished, so I'm going to clean up and go to sleep. Nev, if you want it you're more than welcome to borrow this, it will give you a good head-start on some of our later classes."

Now completely disinterested with the mention of extra learning, Ron got up and made his way to his own bed, leaving a scattered pile of clothing before crawling under the blankets, completely missing the title of one of the few books that might actually have inspired him to crack a book open. Neville's eyes glowed with interest as he read the cover, placing it on his nightstand before following Harry towards the bathrooms to get ready for bed.

When the room was mostly darkened and the soft, or not so soft in the case of one particular bed, noises of boys sleeping filled the room, the light behind one curtain remained on, a fascinated Neville Longbottom finished the first chapter and carefully marked his place before placing the book back on his small table. Tomorrow, he would read further into _The Basics of Battle Magic, by William Wallace_.

/

If Oliver Wood was concerned about his Beaters the previous morning, Harry mused, he should be even more worried today. Looking around the Great Hall, it was hard to find any but the most oblivious of students (Ronald Weasley) not engrossed in a copy of today's Daily Prophet or discussing the contents of the cover article. Even he had found the article fascinating, something that he would previously have thought impossible for an article focused on the most recent Wizengamot session and indeed, many readers would have been surprised at seeing it make headline news. That is, until they read the actual headline. Harry turned back to his copy, shaking his head with a wry smile and wishing he had been there to see his grandfather's manipulations come to fruition, reading the article out loud to the twins who were once again awake, though only in the loosest sense of the word, uncharacteristically early and occasionally had to ask him to repeat the longer words.

_**Wizengamot Decimated by Latest Legislation!**_

_**Legal Proceedings to be Taken Against Fallen Dark Lord**_

_**New Control of Magical Creatures Law has Unexpected Side Effects.**_

_**By Rita Skeeter and Perseus Flitzworth, Political Correspondent.**_

_Well dear readers, once again I bring you the latest breaking news from wherever it may be found. As unlikely as it may seem, yesterday's most interesting events took place in an arena normally reserved for political debate or the occasional high-profile legal case. In this instance, however, we have seen the first significant fall out of the most recent legislation, passed by the traditionalist element of British Wizarding politics._

_During today's session, Madam Alice Longbottom, the ex-Auror who retired due to the effects of extended exposure to the Cruciatus curse at the end of the war against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to take up campaigning for less fortunate victims, took the first steps in instigating a law suit against the estate of the defeated Dark Lord. Though an initial investigation had been carried out to pursue such a case at the time, no accounts or assets could be found that would make such action worthwhile and those of his followers that were successfully prosecuted were frozen by Gringotts or seized by the government at the time._

_Recent events, however, have prompted a change in circumstances. As some of our older readers may remember and if our younger readers will forgive the history lesson, Doctor von Hammersmark testified that many of the Death Eaters were under the Imperius curse or suffering the effects of mind altering potions whilst carrying out the orders of their fallen master. Her most recent study into magical bindings, specifically the Dark Mark used by You-Know-Who to brand his followers, have shown that due to the nature of the binding and the soul-magic involved, both parties had to be fully aware of the nature of the binding and be willing parties. The reason this recent medical research is mentioned is that it now means that all Death Eaters will be required to contribute towards any payouts that may be awarded as a result of Madam Longbottom's case, regardless of whether they were cleared at the time, following previous legal precedent when the victims of Grindelwald were able to sue both his estate and his supporters for damages._

_Up until recently such action may well have been blocked by the marked individuals, many of whom have since moved on to positions of power and influence. Now though, the latest legislation, described by some as "staggering biggotry" and by others as "necessary steps to control these dangerous animals", has had a side-effect that many of its strongest supporters certainly did not foresee._

_The latest laws, passed during Friday's session with an overwhelming majority of 73%, concerned the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, titled 'The Restriction of Magical Creatures Act'. Originally meant to control such dangerous animals as Werewolves and Vampires, the legislation allowed them to take up positions within society as the normal wizards and witches they were before suffering from their affliction, providing they were accepted by a Noble House or suitable individual. One of the stipulations included was a requirement for that Creature to take a soul-bound mark with the representation of that House or individual. In a statement provided on the passing of this law, Lord Lucius Malfoy said "These Creatures must be carefully and delicately controlled. They are undoubtedly dangerous to the wider population and, should they attack someone they should be held accountable. If they desire work, their employers should also be held accountable and control of the Creatures' wages will provide suitable recompense for any damage they might cause and also the time off that these creatures demand in order to deal with their 'afflictions'. Rest assured, this is just the first of many necessary steps to control these dangerous animals."_

_Indeed, should a Creature be under the protection of a House or individual, that party takes a measure of responsibility for the actions that may be perpetrated by the Creature. One of the most prominent examples is Mr Remus Lupin, a registered Werewolf, who proudly displayed the mark of the House of Black on his shoulder whilst attending yesterday's session. To use him as a case study, were Mr Lupin to attack and infect another wizard, he would remain fully responsible and would be punished under the previous laws, however the House of Black could now be sued by the victim for damages that could run to thousands of galleons. When asked about this, the Black family law firm released the following declaration: "It is the opinion of the Black family that wizards suffering from an affliction such as lycanthropy, many of whom were infected against their will, should not be denied the opportunity to contribute to society during such a time when their condition is not a threat. In this particular instance, Mr Lupin is an exceptionally bright and talented wizard who was attacked as a small boy by Fenrir Greyback, a particularly vicious werewolf who deliberately infects his victims and whose actions are not indicative of the wider werewolf population. Mr Lupin has proven his worth time and again in the twelve years that he has helped Sirius Black raise his adopted son, Harry Black-Potter." The statement continued to criticise the Restriction of Magical Creatures Act, saying "While the Black family considers this particular piece of legislation backwards and an overly restrictive act of staggering bigotry, it is the least we can do to provide Mr Lupin with the same level of protection and support that he has shown us. We also fully endorse and encourage the actions of the Higgins Security Group [of which Lord Arcturus Black is a silent partner] in hiring Magical Creatures, though as with all their employees, applications are considered on a case by case basis."_

_The unforeseen side-effect of the Magical Creatures Act was in the definition of the term Creature that was approved by the Wizengamot. The law states that "any creature bearing the mark of the party will be deemed the responsibility of said party and will be considered without exception as such under this law." For our devoted readers not common with legal speak, this means that all those branded as Death Eaters are now considered as Magical Creatures and are under the same restrictions as all the others. The irony is not lost on us here at the Prophet that the traditionally conservative Pure-Blood faction that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named drew many of his supporters from and who voted for this law, have now effectively removed themselves from their positions of power, both within the Wizengamot and the larger wizarding society as a whole._

_The most prominent of these was Lord Lucius Malfoy, a proponent of the new Restriction of Magical Creatures Law. To read a more in depth analysis of the Act and how it may affect you, turn to p6_

_To read about the latest programmes for employment of Magical Creatures, turn to p8_

_To read more about the proposed litigation against the fallen Dark Lord, turn to page 4_

"Holy fuck!" Whispered Harry as he finished the article. The others looked up with expressions of awe that mirrored his own. Neville and Lee, both sat opposite Harry, suddenly turned serious, their eyes flicking up and to the right. With a barely suppressed groan, Harry turned to see that Frank Longbottom had stopped his enchanted chair just behind him and was now subjecting Harry to one of his carefully steady gazes. "Morning professor."

"Good morning Mr Potter, gentlemen. A point, I believe, for your swearing." Harry gave a small sigh of relief that the deduction was fairly minor, dodging as the newspaper was wandlessly summoned from his hands to hover in front of the seated professor who proceeded to skim read the article. He reached the bottom and the paper slowly folded itself, drifting back to land neatly by Harry's glass of juice, barely noticed by the boy who was still watching the older man. Frank Longbottom blinked. He blinked again. "Holy fuck." He muttered in agreement before floating his chair towards the staff table.

Lee sniggered in amusement, giving a blushing Neville a nudge with his elbow.

"You're dad is amazing." He stated around a mouthful of toast. Neville's blush deepened, though the others could easily see the proud smile he only part tried to hide. "So who do you think will be the first to kick off over - "

"THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!" Came the indignant scream from the Slytherin table, loud enough to wake the twins who had fallen asleep leaning against each other. Harry grinned.

"Draco" he stated, answering Lee's unfinished question, unable and unwilling to hide his amusement "and so my day gets better!"

Harry was still smiling about it during his Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, most of which he had spent chatting away with Josef in Russian. The other boy had been rather disappointed to discover that they would be focusing on dark creatures before Christmas, having already covered this in his first year at Durmstrang, but as Harry had covered the material before as well he could easily sympathise.

_"So you're telling me that Malfoy's father voted through the legislation that is now restricting him?"_ Josef asked in Russian, amusement dancing in his eyes even as his face retained its usual placid expression. Harry had discovered that Russians in general rarely displayed any sort of emotion, years of government oppression in both magical and wizarding communities meaning an ability to control one's face and body language was a necessary survival trait. It also made them a bastard to play poker against, as Sirius had discovered to his cost on their last trip to Moscow.

_"Yes, him and many of the ones who were marked by Voldemort."_ Harry replied in the same language as they both bent over a text book to support the illusion that Harry was helping him to learn.

_"In Russia, we put down people who are that stupid"_ he commented dryly and Harry chuckled softly. It really was quite refreshing talking to Josef, the other boy had a healthy lack of respect for the rest of the Slytherins, claiming that he'd seen more cunning in his porridge than they had displayed in trying to get back at Harry.

_"Quite possibly, though he has a vicious streak a mile across and the money to back it up."_ Harry admitted with a shrug, allowing himself another smile _"Though probably not for all that much longer and much of his influence will disappear with this latest law."_ They eventually turned their attention to the classwork, a study on boggarts and the spells that could be used to defeat them. After skimming through it, Harry turned to Josef, who was muttering the text under his breath to ensure he had correctly translated the words he wasn't sure of. _"I was wondering..."_ Harry trailed off thoughtfully.

_"If I can watch the idiot's child and let you know if they are planning anything?"_ Josef asked idly, not looking up from the book and missing Harry's abashed look.

_"Yes, actually. Would that be a problem?"_ Josef gave the slightest twitch of his lip that was worth the same as most other people's grins just as the bell went signaling the end of their lessons.

_"Of course. You know the little perhot podzalupnya even asked me if I knew any spells he could use against you?"_ Harry shook his head, gathering his books together with a grin.

_"No, but it doesn't surprise me."_

_"I gave him a Russian hair-growth hex. Useless but funny."_ Josef picked up his bag, ignoring the suspicious looks he was getting from the Slytherin in question and earning a small chuckle from Harry.

_"Oh, what does 'perhot podzlapnya' - "_ he asked of the Russian.

_"Podzalupnya"_ Josef said correcting his pronunciation. _"Means the fluff you find at end of your cock."_ Harry froze, barely able to contain his laughter as Josef switched back to thickly accented English to addressed Draco "Come my friend Draco, let us leave these idiot Gryffindors, they bore me and make me stupid by close-ness" he threw his arms around the sneering Slytherin's shoulders _"Laters Harry!"_ he called over his shoulder in Russian "I tell him he will learn mistake - your father is a great man and will fix stupidity, destroying Black family." He placated Draco as they left the classroom.

As soon as they were out of earshot Harry couldn't restrain himself and burst out laughing, wiping the tears of amusement from his cheeks and ignoring the strange looks he was getting from the remaining students.

"Why are you laughing at him, Josef just insulted you." Hermione demanded as they left the classroom on their way to Ancient Runes "Rather ungrateful if you ask me, considering you're helping him with his translations." Harry grinned back at her.

"For starters, it was a private joke you really need to be able to speak Russian to understand and secondly" he continued throwing her a wink "Josef speaks better English than I speak Russian."

"But then why..." Hermione's incredulous look slowly changed to realisation and then much more quickly to indignation "but you talk all the way through the classes you have with him!"

"Yep!" Harry admitted cheerfully "He's really quite an interesting chap, you should try speaking to him. Knows an awful lot about the darker side of magic. Did you know they focus much more on combat and offensive magic in Durmstrang? Must be why HSG have more guys from there than Hogwarts." He mused.

"Wait, who are HSG?" Hermione asked as she struggled to keep up with Harry's longer legged strides.

"The Higgins Security Group" he clarified "turns out that one of the Black family a while ago was disinherited for marrying a muggle, their kids couldn't afford to go to Hogwarts and eventually a couple of them joined the Royal Marines, left and started up the private security group. You've met some of them." He added with another cheeky wink, prompting Hermione to shiver slightly at the memory of the intimidation she suffered when she had started looking for Harry.

"Then why did Josef just say that about you?" Harry gave her a look she truly hated, regardless of who it came from. It was a look that said '_You've just asked me a really stupid question_'. She despised asking stupid questions and she groaned as she realised the answer "Because he lives with them and wants to keep his life as painless as possible."

"Right in one!" Harry responded, opening the door to the Runes classroom and motioning her through. He moved down the row of chairs, taking his seat next to a scowling Daphne Greengrass who apparently remained less than enamoured with her new hair colouring. "Alright Daffers, how's it going?" He asked, putting his bags on the desk and dropping into his chair leaning heavily towards her to nudge her shoulder with his own.

Since joining Hogwarts, Daphne had perfected her glare. She had found it effective against her housemates, other students and most of the teachers. It was particularly useful when she wanted to have a little privacy. It hadn't failed her yet and it normally prompted the recipient to get as far as possible from her, usually in a different room with several heavy doors between her and them. She was justifiably proud of her glare. Harry grinned back at her, completely unaffected.

"What" she bit out, the irritation thick in her voice "did you just call me, _Potter_?"

"Daffers." Clarified Harry, his grin stretching even wider at her irritation. "See, it's a shortening of 'Daphne' and it's reminiscent of Daffodils, which reflect your sunny disposition."

Any response to this was interrupted by the arrival of Professor Babbling, who smiled cheerfully at them all as she bustled towards her desk, waving a wand at the blackboard to reveal the basic Celtic runic alphabet.

"Now, I would like you all to copy down the list of runes here." Harry cast an eye over them and was marginally disappointed not to see any he didn't already know "You will also see at the end there a selection of the most common pairings. Your homework for Monday morning will be an examination of the interactions between the runes and how the relationship alters when you change the order. An example of which would be the runes for 'beauty' and 'truth'. In that order, they mean quite literally that 'there is beauty in truth', reverse it and it means 'true beauty'." She smiled out at them and Harry was certain that her gaze lingered on him for just a moment longer than the rest of the class. _Maybe I'm just trying to find my Mrs Robinson_ he thought "If you finished before the end of the class, feel free to make an early start to your homework."

Harry was finished within twenty minutes and a quick glance across at Daphne showed that she was almost done as well.

"Oi, Daffers" he whispered, earning himself another glare. _That's actually quite a look_, he mused. _I wonder how violently she'd castrate me if I told her how pretty she looks when she's angry. Shit. Have a girlfriend, have a girlfriend, have a girlfriend._

"That's not my name, _Potter._" She snarled back, careful to keep her voice low enough to avoid attention from the teacher as she finished of her transcription of the runes on the board, turning her full attention towards Harry.

"And that's not my name, _Daffers_." Came the quick response. They continued their staring contest, both refusing to blink.

"Are you done?" She forced out between gritted teeth. In an instant Harry's face broke into another of the grins she found unbelievably irritating.

"For now." He admitted cheerfully "But to my point, I had a couple of ideas for our Runes project." Her anger faded, replaced with a combination of curiosity and suspicion.

"Go on."

"Well, not ideas for what we can do" he admitted "but a couple of thoughts none-the-less. Look at all the truly amazing things that have been created with runes: wands, broomsticks - "

"They've been done before." She cut him off, her irritation rising at having been interrupted for an unoriginal thought. _Merlin-dammit! He's fucking grinning again!_

"The Sorting Hat, Ravenclaw's Diadem, Godric's Sword..." he trailed off at the doubtful look she was giving him.

"You're delusional if you think we can create something like those three, besides, Godric's Sword has been missing for centuries." She said, prompting a small sigh of frustration from her study partner.

"I realise that and I'm not delusional" he frowned at the amused snort she gave in response "but I was thinking it would be stupid if we didn't take advantage of the opportunity to study them before we attempt our own projects." Daphne's expression retained a healthy dose of skepticism but an increasing element of thoughtfulness and Harry felt the stirrings of hope.

"Creating something on that scale would probably take us into the two year mark." she observed slowly, eyes narrowed "And you're irritating enough that I'll be amazed if you haven't inspired me to curse the magic out of you by the time we finish this project, so Merlin only knows what state you'd be in after two years working together." He waved of her concerns and smiled disarmingly.

"I grow on people - "

"So does Herpes." He stared at her in shock before a slow smile started to creep across his face. Despite her best efforts, the corner of her mouth twitched as Daphne found herself fighting against her growing amusement.

"Herpes is an STD." He stated flatly. _Where the hell is he taking this?_ She wondered.

"And?" She asked suspiciously.

"That means you were thinking about me and sex." His grin widened. Her scowl deepened.

"Fuck you, Potter." She hissed viciously, her face colouring as the blood rushed to her cheeks and Harry held his hands up as if to stave her off, his expression far too mocking for her liking.

"Thanks for the offer, Daffers, but I have a girlfriend." She opened her mouth to reply only to be cut off by Professor Babbling.

"If you two are finished with your current work, I believe I said you were to make a start on your homework, didn't I?" Harry and Daphne snapped their eyes to the front, both of them blushing at the nature of the conversation they had been caught in.

"Sorry miss," Harry began, his ingrained habit of worming his way out of trouble kicking in by reflex "we were just discussing the possibility of - ow!" Daphne cut him off with a swift kick to the ankle.

"We were just discussing an idea for the project, Professor" Daphne continued smoothly "and we were wondering if we could talk about it with you after the class?" Professor Babbling gave a far-too knowing smile but nodded her agreement.

"Of course," she said "but for now, please keep your conversation to a minimum."

The two students nodded, turning their heads towards their work for the final ten minutes of the lesson.

When the gong sounded for lunch, Harry and Daphne made their way to the front, Harry studiously ignoring the questioning looks he was getting from Hermione. _I'm really going to have to give her some answers at some point_, he thought idly as the door closed behind the bushy-haired Gryffindor.

"So then, what's the idea?" Asked Professor Babbling.

"Well, Professor" began Daphne "Pot - " She was cut off by Harry's loud cough. She glared at him and he smiled innocently back at her "_Harry_ suggested that we look for inspiration for our project in some of the magical artefacts held by Hogwarts." Professor Babbling raised her eyebrows in pleasant surprise at their enthusiasm.

"That's certainly a good idea" she praised "but you do remember that I recommended you wait until after Christmas before you started?"

"We do Professor" acknowledged Harry "and we won't be neglecting our studies at this stage, we just want to get a bit ahead of the curve when it comes to preparing. We've both read ahead and have a good basic understanding of Ancient Runes, so we thought we'd use this time to our advantage." They gave her their best innocent and hopeful student looks. She studied them thoughtfully for a moment before giving a wry smile and a shake of her head at the poor attempt.

"Fine, though I will expect you two to be earning some of the higher marks in your assignments." They grinned and nodded eagerly in agreement. "Which objects did you have in mind?"

"Ravenclaw's Diadem and the Sorting Hat." Harry answered promptly. The Professor's expression turned suddenly cautious at the mention of the Hat.

_Damn_, thought Harry, _that thing has made some seriously poor impressions on people!_

"Well I can't see a problem with Ravenclaw's Diadem" she conceded slowly "it's just gathering dust in the Hogwarts Trophy room… I will have to ask the Headmaster about the Hat though, I've heard it has some… issues." She finished lamely. _It's a rude scrap of cloth that should have been recycled into dish-rags centuries ago,_ she didn't add.

"OK professor, thank you." They agreed happily, turning for the door.

"Oh, Harry?" He turned back towards Professor Babbling, who looked just a tiny bit… _Is she nervous?_ Harry wondered to himself "The next time your godfather is here…" she trailed off and chewed at her lip. It was all Harry could do to stop himself rolling his eyes at what he could guess was coming next. "Ummm…"

"Would you like me to ask him to drop by?" He supplied helpfully "I'm sure you have a lot to catch up on if you were at school together, though I'm surprised, I mean you look at least ten years below him" he added gallantly "I mean, he's really old, and you're much younger and better looking." Now she was definitely blushing at Harry's outrageous flattery.

"Um, yes, well. Er." She stumbled over the words. "If you could ask him to pop by. That'd be… nice." She finished awkwardly.

"Will do miss!" He said, turning with a cheery wave. "See you later!"

Daphne at least had the grace to wait until they were out of the room before letting out a little giggle.

"What was that?" Harry asked with amusement at Daphne letting her normally perfectly control slip. In a flash it was back up again.

"What was what?" She asked defensively.

"You just giggled." He replied. Daphne stopped walking and glared at him.

"I do not giggle. I occasionally laugh. I've even smiled before. Once or twice I have chuckled. But I do not fucking giggle." Harry was really quite taken aback by the vehemence in her voice over the statement. "Is that clear?"

"Fine, you don't giggle, I must have mistaken it for a cough or something." He agreed and they continued on their way to the Great Hall "So why don't you giggle?"

Daphne scowled at the mention of the word. "Little girls giggle." She stated "Girls who are incapable of looking after themselves and are more concerned with what they look like and which boy is going to ask them to dance - they giggle. Lavender Brown giggles." She hissed out with anger. Harry nodded in concession. He had indeed seen Lavender Brown giggle, and he was pretty sure he'd had a glass of tap-water with more personality than her. Daphne apparently wasn't finished. "Girls who wish to be taken seriously as individuals within their own right, do not fucking giggle!"

"Whatever you say." Harry agreed, trying to sooth the irate young witch. "Can we get a move on though, I want some lunch and then I want to get to the try-outs."

"Oh yes?" Daphne asked, glad for the change of subject "What position are you after?"

"Well my dad was a Chaser, so…" he shrugged "but then I also played Seeker for the local kids team in London so I guess wherever there's space. You play?"

"Huh. And no, I don't play. My sister does though, she just started this year…" She trailed off and cast a shifty glance at Harry "but enough about quidditch, what was that with Professor Babbling and your godfather?"

"Honestly?" Harry queried with a long-suffering sigh as they neared the entrance to the Great Hall "I have no idea. She was probably one of the many, many, _many_ witches Sirius has bragged about from his time at Hogwarts." He shuddered dramatically at the memories, prompting a small bark of laughter. "Oh good work, that definitely wasn't a giggle." She rolled her eyes, smiling despite herself as they turned in to the Hall.

"Good luck at try-outs, Potter" She said as she turned to the Slytherin table.

"Cheers Daffers, smell ya later." Harry tossed back with a wink, heading towards the nearest free spot at the Gryffindor table.

/

"Right, listen up!" Oliver Wood was pacing back and forth in front those assembled for the tryouts, a clipboard held in one hand, broom held casually over one shoulder. The current players were arrayed behind him, arms folded and casting critical eyes over the team hopefuls, occasionally ducking as Wood turned at each end and nearly hit them with his broom. There were four new players: Ginny Weasley Harry recognised from the train, who blushed the same colour of her hair the moment Harry arrived, her brother Ron, who was prattling away about something Harry hadn't bothered listening to, a second year whose name Harry hadn't learned yet, and Harry himself.

"We have a pretty solid team already. The Weasley twins are our Beaters," Wood continued, and the twins gave a grim faced nod, all humour gone from their faces. Apparently quidditch was the one topic they took seriously. "Chasers are Angelina Johnson," a dark-skinned girl with dreadlocks raised her hand and gave a friendly smile "Katie Bell" another pretty brunette waved at the group and winked at Harry. _Oh brilliant, another member of the fan club_, he thought "and moving up from the reserves this year is Alicia Spinnet." A rather burly girl leaning on her broom glared out at them. _Maybe she's worried she'll lose that position she's just earned,_ Harry mused as Wood finished off "And I'm your Keeper and Captain."

"So, let's check, we've got a Black-Potter" Harry waved as Oliver read from a list on his clipboard, barely glancing up to take notice, "two more Weasleys - we really should just get that name printed as standard on our shirts - and a Creevey."

_Well that identifies the other kid,_ Harry thought as Wood tossed the clipboard casually over his shoulder to be caught just as casually by Angelina Johnson. _I wonder if they practiced that._

"Now the position we're looking for is Seeker" Ron gave his younger sister an enthusiastic nudge to the shoulder and a grin of encouragement "but we're also recruiting for the reserves, so if there's any particular position you want to play, let us know, just be aware that you may find yourself playing where we need you, not where you want to. Clear?" Everyone nodded. "Right, this is how the tryouts are going to work: we're going to head up for a fly around, we'll have a Quaffle, one Bludger and the Snitch in play. We'll rotate through positions and I want to see all of you giving your best at each position so we know where best to place you for our first match next month."

"The twins are going to be targeting everyone," Wood announced, prompting savage grins from Fred and George at the announcement.

"Open season." One of them growled, loudly enough for the hopefuls to hear. Ron Weasley gulped audibly as he became the focus of their rather demonic gaze and the females of the team gave each other knowing looks. Wood rolled his eyes even as he smiled in exasperation.

"Alicia, Katie and Angelina will start on the attack. Boy Weasley - "

"Ron." Ron supplied with a helpful smile.

Wood waved him off, "girl Weasley - "

"Ginny!" Ginny corrected indignantly.

"Whatever" Oliver carried on "and Potter - "

"Black-Potter." Harry corrected idly.

"Don't care, will start on the defence, I'll be in goal, Creevey will be on Seeker duties." Harry suppressed a smile. Clearly this guy was way too hung up on Quidditch to be worried about something as inconsequential as a person's name. "As soon as a goal is scored, the person who scores will become the goalie, the goalie then moves to the defending side, while one of the defenders, Potter first - "

"Black-Potter." Harry corrected again.

"Still don't care, moves to the Seeker position. An intercept means that the defenders become the attacking team. They re-set to the centre line and begin their attack from there." Oliver Wood looked around at the assembled players and potential players. "Any questions?" Harry saw the twins grin at each other and Fred raised his hand.

"Why is orange jam called marmalade?" Asked George. The team groaned as the captain glared.

"What's a baby rabbit called?" Chimed in Fred.

"Any questions relating to the tryouts?" Clarified Wood, ignoring the twins.

"What if we catch the Snitch?" Asked Harry. Wood eyed him skeptically.

"If you manage to catch the Snitch, it counts as a goal and you can choose your next position, but you'll probably end up as our Seeker for the first game. Anything else?" There was a chorus of no's and shaken heads and they prepared to take to the skies. Harry pulled the cover from the Firebolt Sirius had bought him for his last birthday, earning a low whistle of admiration from Angelina Johnson.

"Nice broom, Harry." She gazed at it with awe and Harry spotted that most of the other players were eyeing the broom with a combination of jealousy and appreciation for a finely crafted piece of flying equipment.

"Mmm, looking good…" Katie purred, eyeing Harry with something of a predatory look that had him feeling just a tad uncomfortable and prompted a snigger from one of the twins as she leaned far closer than was necessary to cast a very brief look at the broom. "Maybe you can take me for a ride one day?"

"Sure, uh, you can borrow it some time." Harry muttered as his cheeks rapidly turned red.

"Oh that's cute" coo-ed Katie to Alicia Spinnet "He thinks I was talking about the broom." Harry's jaw dropped, and even the twins looked a little shocked at the brazen flirting.

"Are you done?" Snapped Wood, glaring at them all "Can we fly now?" Katie winked lasciviously at Harry and kicked into the air, shortly followed by Alicia and Angelina, the trio shot from one end of the pitch to the other, passing the Quaffle between them. Oliver turned to Harry as the girls sped back and forth "Remember Potter, it takes more than a nice broom to get on this team, you'll need to show skill too."

"I can hold my own." Harry said confidently, kicking off the ground and performing a lazy barrel-roll as he made his way up to take position left of centre field. He knew well enough that most of the tryout would be focused on the Chaser positions as that was the focus of the Gryffindor game and had been since the last Weasley Seeker had left, with the team aiming to win on points as opposed to catching the Snitch.

Ginny and Ron took up defensive positions as well, while Creevey, _Was it Craig? Kevin? Karl?_ wondered Harry _Something with a C or a K_, began some very amateurish looking Seeker drills above them.

Oliver whistled loudly from his position in front of the goals and the twins released the Bludger. Harry kept half an eye on it as it shot towards Ginny Weasley, keeping most of his focus on the girls in front of him with the Quaffle. They were moving towards the goal, passing it quickly between them to keep the defenders guessing. Harry grinned, they were leaning to the right hand side of centre pitch, furthest from Harry. He glanced across to Ron and Ginny. They both looked nervous, uncomfortable with the positions they were playing.

"Stand fast" shouted Harry against the wind "hold your positions and don't let them through!" Ginny glanced at him angrily at being told something she already knew. Ron hearing nothing, drifted in towards the centre.

_Fuck._ Harry realised exactly what they were doing, he was pretty sure that Ginny had twigged it too and for all that he had been talking about Quidditch, Harry was amazed that Ron hadn't as well. Katie passed the ball from the right to Angelina's centre position, a quick pass to Alicia as Harry and Ginny moved towards them, blocking their centre route. _Ron, you fucking idiot._ He dodged a Bludger from the twins and continued his move to the centre as well._ Twat_. The Quaffle passed high over his head into Katie's waiting hands as she looped towards the goals, shooting past towards the centre and drawing Wood out only to toss a casual over-the-shoulder shot into the right hand hoop.

With a sigh of irritation, Harry swooped up to where the Creevey kid had been conducting his Seeker drills, acknowledging the cheerful "Hi Harry!" and the wave with a nod and a small smile that broke into a chuckle as the other boy began animatedly discussing how they should make their next attack run with Alicia and Angelina. Ron's face was blushing almost the same colour as his hair as Katie took Wood's position in goal and Harry saw Ron's lips moving in what he could only assume was an attempt at excusing his stupidity. The captain ignored him, already waving the defenders into position.

Harry began scanning the pitch below for the flutter of gold that would indicate his target, keeping half an eye on the twins in case they decided to send a Bludger his way. Their first run against the goal was over almost before it started, with an intercept from Ginny Weasley who was proving to be remarkably adept on a broom. She kept the Quaffle under her arm as she streaked towards the halfway line, waiting impatiently for Wood and Ron as they made their way out to join her for a brief discussion about how they should approach. By the look of things, boy-Weasley was trying to convince girl-Weasley to give him the Quaffle to make up for his previous poor showing and girl-Weasley was having none of it.

They began their run, Wood with the Quaffle, dump pass to girl-Weasley, off to boy-Weasley as Ginny nipped through a gap between Alicia and Angelina. Boy-Weasley sped past Creevey, who was desperately trying to offset a lack of skill with an over-abundance of enthusiasm and failing miserably. He ignored a shout for the ball from his sister, face grim as he streaked towards the goal, and Harry began to wonder how good Katie was in goal. In the end he never got to find out as Ron was knocked off track by a Bludger sent from one of the twins that bounced off his shoulder and caused him to drop the Quaffle with a curse loud enough for even Harry to hear it. He allowed himself a snigger as boy-Weasley dove for the ground to reclaim the Quaffle, ignoring girl-Weasley as she dogged him on her broom and with her insults.

_What a cock._ Harry thought to himself. His right hand flashed out, snatching the Snitch from the air as it tried to buzz him. "You should try harder, you shiny little bastard." He scolded the Snitch. _Sometimes being me is just too good._

Harry swooped down just as the players were re-setting for another run. Ron was once again blushing beet-red to the roots of his hair and Oliver was beginning to look increasingly pissed off.

"What do you want, Potter?" Snapped Woods, sending a glare in his direction "You're on Snitch-watch…" He trailed off as Harry held out the fluttering golden ball. To Harry's amusement, Ginny looked almost as irritated as her brother at Harry's disclosure. "Huh." Was all the Gryffindor Captain had to say, his anger fading to consideration. "Well then, where do you want to play?"

"It's Black-Potter" Harry corrected, his grin not slipping in the slightest "and how about Chaser on the attack?" Wood gave a nod by way of acceptance at his choice _Fuck playing Seeker,_ thought Harry, _way too dull. Besides, what kind of retarded sport would give a single player the responsibility of ending the game and earning the highest amount of points? Some team game that is!_ "Let's give girl-Weasley a pop at Seeker."

"It's 'Ginny'!" The girl snapped with a glare as Harry tossed the for now docile Snitch in her direction, catching it easily.

"Of course it is." Harry said with a condescending smile. She passed the Snitch to Wood, who tapped it once with his wand and sent it flitting off to who-cared where. Ginny gave her aging Comet Six a yank away from them with an irritated huff and flew up to start some very aggressive Seeker drills.

"Right then!" Began a very pompous boy-Weasley. Harry's smirk renewed itself at the sight of Oliver's barely concealed grimace as the boy piped up. "Let's go for the Hawkshead Attack, I'll take point, Potter - "

"Black-Potter" Harry interrupted, more to put the boy off his game than any real desire to correct him.

"Black-Potter, sorry, take the left flank, Wood, take right. We need a quick push through the defenders, then fake off to the right, Wood, you pass back to me and I'll go for the left hand side goal."

"Sounds good to me." Came the begrudging admission from Wood.

"Their left or ours?" Asked Harry innocently.

Ron hesitated a moment and tried to work it out in his head. _By Merlin this kid is thick,_ thought Harry. "Ours." He finally said, trying to sound decisive.

"So we're going left, right?" Harry could barely keep his grin in check at the look of confusion that spread across the other boy's face that wasn't helped by the snort of amusement from Wood.

"Right." The older boy confirmed, his eyes twinkling as they met Harry's. "Let's go!"

"Wait, what? We're going left!" Insisted Ron as they took off down the pitch "Right?"

The Quaffle passed rapidly between them as they approached the defensive line. Harry found Alicia Spinnet squaring off against him weaving left to right in an attempt to keep her options open in blocking him. He shot wide onto the flank as Wood shot the Quaffle out wide to the left, leaning slightly further than he probably should have to catch it left-handed. He let his momentum pull him into a sloth-grip roll to dodge the Bludger sent his way, speeding up his spin to add momentum to his throw as he launched the Quaffle under Wood and into boy-Weasley's rather surprised hands. Harry grinned at the shocked Chaser as he passed inverted and underneath her, putting on the speed to gain an open position for a shot on the goals.

"OPEN!" He bellowed across the pitch. Ron glared at him from his stalled position behind Angelina and the Creevey kid, angrily passing off to Wood at another lost opportunity to show his worth. Wood performed a roll as he caught it, utilising the same tactic as Harry to augment the pass with the centripetal force of his spin, and just like that, the Quaffle was heading back towards Harry.

He frowned. Except it wasn't. Perhaps because of the extra force, or maybe because Wood wanted to see just how capable Harry was, the pass was going to fall just a little bit short and about six feet low. Harry realised it just a little too late to lower his broom and so did the only thing possible, flipping his right leg over the broom and allowing his body weight to swing him underneath the broom. Just like a field goal, he thought as his right foot connected perfectly, booting the Quaffle towards the far goal and spinning himself back up onto the broom in one fluid movement, holding his breath as he watched the ball's trajectory. Katie Bell, bored in her position as goalie up until now, had followed the Quaffle to the left hand post and was now desperately trying to reach the far goal. She stretched, every muscle straining as she reached to block the shot.

Her face crumpled in disappointment as her fingers missed the ball by the slightest of margins, even as Harry started a whoop of triumph. It died on his lips as the Quaffle bounced off the post.

"Oh fuck OFF!" He cried in frustration even as he swooped low to pick up the falling ball. The irritation was clear on his face as he high-tailed it back to the half way line, not caring about the shocked looks he was getting from the other players.

"Good shot, Black-Potter" Wood praised "guess it's not just the broom."

"Wasn't good enough though, was it?" Ron put in with a growl, the anger believing himself to have been shown up by Harry's near-success clear on his face and in his voice.

"Closer than you've been so far boy-Weasley." Wood countered with a flicker of distaste.

"My name's Ron!" He nearly shouted at the other two.

"Of course it is." Harry placated him _I'm really going to have to use that more often if it winds him up so much._ "Let's try a tighter formation - we're bigger than they are so let's use that to force them out of the way. Wood on point with the Quaffle, drop pass to me on the right as we get through, they'll be expecting me to make the run after that shot. I'll fake to the right but aim for centre hoop, Weasley, head round the back to collect if I miss and you should then have a clear shot on the left."

They executed the play flawlessly, the timid Creevey breaking the defence line moments before the girls did and allowing them a clear run to the goals as the scattered defenders tried in vain to catch up. They flowed easily around the Bludger the twins sent their way, earning a muted cry of frustration from one of the them as they missed their target. In the end Ron's circling round the back side of the goals wasn't needed - with Katie already nervous at Harry's previous attempt on goal, she had suspected Harry's manoeuvre would be more than it seemed, biasing herself closer to centre and leaving a gap that was way too inviting on the left hand hoop for Harry to pass up and the Quaffle sailed through easily.

"Good shot, B-P!" The now ex-goalkeeper called cheerfully as she swooped down to collect the ball with a rather appealing waggle of her broom. The unwritten rule of any practice session is that if the goal goes in, the keeper collects, if the shooter misses, he plays fetch.

"You said you were going to fake right and aim for centre!" Ron's outraged protest interrupted Harry's musing on what a nice wiggle the Chaser had. He glanced at the angry red-head and shrugged.

"No plan survives first contact. I was just following the rules that have been laid down for winning at Quidditch. Or Duelling. Or Chess. Or life."

"Oh yeah?" Wood asked with mild curiosity. "What are they than?"

"React, adapt, improvise and overcome." Harry replied quickly, earning himself a nod and a smile from the Captain.

"In goal, _B-P_" He ordered with a wink. _Ah, shit. Another crappy nick-name._

The rest of the practice flowed by fairly smoothly. The twins sent the occasional Bludger towards the goals but spent most of the time trying to disrupt the attacking team. It might have been Harry's imagination, but he could have sworn an inordinate amount of their shots seemed to be aimed at their younger brother. He blocked a shot from Katie, then another from Ron before Angelina intercepted a pass and they swapped over.

The two girls and Creevey _Charles? Cormac?_ Flew in tight formation, relatively small body mass giving them the speed and manoeuvrability to get past the defenders with the assistance of a well timed Bludger that forced Wood out of the way of Angelina. She veered to Harry's right, Quaffle tucked under one arm. He drifted towards her, shifting towards her and blocking as much of the hoops as possible. The pass went over his head to Alicia and Harry found himself sprinting to the far side of the pitch as the other girl lined up her shot, the Creevey kid had dropped back, unable to keep up with the more experienced players. Harry got there just in time, flaring the broom and throwing himself into a starfish shape to black the shot... completely unnecessarily. A flick of her wrist sent the ball from Angelina into Creevey's waiting hands as he sped forwards, leaving Harry behind him and sending the ball cleanly through the centre hoop.

Alicia whooped with joy. "Good shot Colin!" Praised Angelina as she made her way back over, eyes dancing with the rush of flying. _Colin! That was it!_

"Yeah, nice one Colin, good shot." The younger boy beamed at the praise from Harry as he swooped down to collect the ball as the victor's joy was replaced with nervous energy as he took his place in goal. Just as Harry was returning, Quaffle in hand, to give Creevey some quick pointers on the finer aspects of goal keeping, when a streak of broom, black robes and red-hair nearly took his head off.

"Getouttamyway!" He barely heard the warning shout, just catching the determined look on Ginny's face as she shot past him, one arm outstretched for the fluttering ball of magic that was only just keeping in front of her fingertips. He turned to watch as the youngest Weasley streaked towards the ground at a dangerously fast pace. Just as he thought they were going to have a bloodstain to clean up on the Quidditch pitch and the cries of "Pull up!" from the rest of the team reached Harry, he saw the girl twist her broom, flicking up the front and shooting back up to the goals where the rest of the team was rapidly congregating. She was panting heavily and her face was flushed with the adrenaline of the dive. It was also split with a triumphant grin as she held the Snitch in her outstretched hand." There was a moment of stunned silence.

"Ladies and gentlemen" Wood announced "I believe we have found our new Seeker." The twins whooped, slamming into their younger sister in a flying hug while the rest of the team cheered and shouted congratulations as they drifted towards the ground towards the figure of Madam Hooch who was watching them all with a small smile.

"Unfortunately that's your time, Mr Wood." The corner of her eyes crinkled as she smiled towards the twins, still with their arms around Ginny. "I trust you found what you were looking for?"

He nodded and his smile looked as if it was going to break his face in half, only matched by the sheer joy that was showing on Ginny's as he pointed to her "Seeker" the twins cheered again and raised their sister to their shoulders earning a shriek and a demand to be lowered immediately. Wood pointed at Harry and then Colin Creevey in turn "Reserve Seeker and Chaser, reserve Chaser." His gaze reached Ron, who looked thoroughly pissed off. "Meh. We can always use another back up, boy-Weasley."

Ron looked as though he wasn't sure if he was pissed off at his less than enthusiastic reception or elated at gaining a position at all. Harry decided he didn't particularly care. Creevey looked like he was about to wet himself with excitement.

The team made their way back to the dorms as Wood gave them a brief run-down of training practices before their first match against Hufflepuff. They were just in time for a quick shower and change, scattering in different directions for their next classes. Harry didn't bother rushing for a double dose of History of Magic, arriving in the class just after the gong sounded. He cursed every god he had ever wronged, taking the only spare seat next to his new team mate at the desk next to Neville and Hermione. At least Neville had the good grace to look apologetic at the seating arrangement.

"You were really good out there on that Firebolt." Ron said, his envy still obvious in his voice. Harry shrugged, taking out quill and parchment and a book on another goblin rebellion. He didn't particularly care which one - especially with this teacher, they all seemed to blur into one, which was a shame, as Crackclaw had provided him with an interesting point of view on many of the more hotly debated conflicts.

"It's just a broom." He said dismissively, propping the text-book open at the front of his desk and carefully arranging the quill and parchment behind it. He quietly cast a spell at the quill and it jumped to animation, copying down the notes as the professor droned on. Harry pulled out another text and began reading.

"What are you doing?" Hissed Hermione, staring in horror at the quill that was taking Harry's notes for him. He gave her the look she hated and she scowled at him "Fine, I know what you're doing, why are you doing that?"

"Because my time is better utilised doing other things. Like poking pencils in my eyes, or trying to use a leaf-blower to stop a hurricane." The shocked looks he was getting from the people sat around him didn't change. "I'm not going to do either of those things" Harry added hastily "I have some reading to do." He held up his new book _Advanced Runic Theory and Ward Design by Julius Capeworn._ "See?"

"But you wont learn it!" Protested Hermione, her outrage at his actions prompting her to break one of her cardinal rules: _Thou shalt not talk in class._ Harry paused for thought, head tilted to one side.

"Well it is pretty advanced stuff, but I figure I've got a pretty decent grasp of runes and warding already, so..."

Hermione gave a frustrated growl "No! Not that, the History of Magic! If you're focused on the Runes, you won't learn the History."

"Wait" came Ron's contribution "you've found a way to not pay attention in any of Binns' lessons, and you're using it for more study?!"

"Yeah, and?"

"You're mental!"

"Thank you, as ever, for a well thought through and articulated opinion. Once again, we didn't want it. Now please keep quiet while the grown ups talk." Harry's response had Ron staring back at him in shock, before turning his attention to his own parchment and scrawling barely legible notes. "As to not learning the history..." He rubbed his face, staring up at the ceiling as he recalled the details. "In the goblin rebellion of 1743, the clan in the west Midlands rose up after a goblin bridal party was slaughtered. According to him" he waved towards the ghost at the front of the class "it was by a rival clan of goblins who blamed it on wizards, in reality it was the son of a local wizard lord and his buddies who went out and got piss drunk and decided to engage in a spot of goblin hunting. Greytooth, the clan leader, was the father of the bride who was one of those killed, he and the proposed groom were united in their rage and slaughtered the wizard's family in vengeance, mounting their heads on spikes and declaring the Midlands to be a goblin independent territory." By this point, Hermione was frantically flicking through the text book and many of the other students had turned their chairs around and were taking notes from Harry's impromptu lecture instead of from Binns. "Obviously the wizards couldn't accept this, and hence the war. Which the goblins lost." He saw Hermione's skeptical glance. "And yes, I can spin that into two feet of parchment for the next essay. Now if you don't mind?"

He raised his book on runes as everyone returned with a disappointed sigh to the actual teacher.

Hermione Granger didn't swear. Ever. But if she did, she would have been thinking something like _I really flipping dislike that boy!_

After a moments pause, Ron threw his quill down with a huff. He cast what was, by his standards, probably a fairly sneaky glance in Harry's direction.

"Harry, mate, I don't suppose..." He trailed off hopefully.

"Only if you promise not to disturb me for the rest of this class." Harry replied, not looking up from his book.

"Promise!" The word positively leapt from Ron's mouth as his eyes lit up with eagerness. Harry sighed, carefully marking his page and raising his wand again to duplicate his previous spell on Ron's quill. The red-head watched it in fascination for a moment before folding his arms on his desk and lowering his head to get some sleep as Harry returned to his reading.

It seemed an age before the gong sounded, signalling the end of the class and the end of the school day. Harry cancelled the spells on his and Ron's quills, smirking as he looked down at the other boy's notes. Perhaps he should have mentioned that the spell worked by mimicking the quill's owner's natural writing style - the page was covered in ink-blotches, crossing outs and eventually faded into illegibility at the point when Ron would normally have fallen asleep during a class. He nudged the softly snoring Weasley as he packed his bags up.

"Oi! Weasley!"

"Wurffwurzle?" Harry had absolutely no idea what that sound was even supposed to have been.

"Class is over, you can wake up now. Nev, you ready?" He asked, turning his attention to the other boy who gave him a grim nod by way of reply. "Good, can you grab the terrible trio, I'll meet you down in the Entrance Hall."

"Sure thing. Gimme ten minutes, I'll see you there." Hermione looked at them suspiciously as Ron stuffed his notes into his bag without looking at them, scrambling towards the door as quickly as possible.

"What are you lot planning now?" Hermione demanded as Professor Binns drifted away through the wall, leaving her and Harry alone in the classroom. He sighed, making his way towards the door and holding it open for her. "Thank you. I still want an answer."

"Of course you do." He muttered quietly. Apparently not quietly enough if the glare she sent in his direction was anything to go by. "Because of the legislation that was passed, there was some concern that the children of those who pushed it through, myself, Neville and a couple of others, could become targets of those who were affected or their kids at this school."

"You mean the kids of Death Eaters?" She kept her voice low, glancing around worriedly in case they were overheard. Harry shrugged off her concern.

"George calls them Death Nibblers, but yeah."

"So why are the twins and Lee joining you?" Hermione asked after a moment of consideration. Harry cocked his head to one side in thought.

"They're legacies... of a sort."

Hermione followed him down to the Entrance Hall, lost in thought.

"Harry!" Hermione's head snapped up at the cry. The tall, well-built man with dark hair and a broad grin in smart, discreetly expensive robes breaking away from a small group of men and women had her freezing in shock as memories flooded back to her of that afternoon nearly two years ago.

"Sirius!" Harry's face split into a wide smile as he picked up his pace to meet the man in a warm embrace, breaking free after a moment to turn towards Hermione. "I think you've already met Hermione Granger." He waved a still frozen Hermione forwards and the girl obliged with no small measure of trepidation. "Hermione, this is my godfather and adoptive father, Sirius Black."

Summoning as much courage as she could, Hermione stuck out a nervous hand and greeted him with a slight stammer, desperately trying to remember everything she could about the correct form of addressing the heir of one of the most powerful families in wizarding Britain, dropping into an awkward curtsey. "M- my Lord Black." Harry barely contained his snort of amusement as Sirius bowed in response, lightly taking her hand and kissing the back of it.

"Well met, Miss Granger" He said as he straightened, eyes twinkling in amusement "but please, it's Sirius." Harry moved off, greeting the rest of the group with smiles and handshakes for the men and friendly hugs from the women.

"We'll wait till the rest of them get her for full introductions," Harry explained to Hermione "but these are some of the guys who will be teaching us this year, guys, this is Hermione Granger, one of the girls in my house, and apparently one of the smartest witches in her generation." Hermione blushed at the praise and waved shyly at the group, who smiled and nodded greetings.

The first to arrive was Daphne Greengrass, shortly followed by a returning Neville with the twins and Lee Jordan in tow who looked as if they were about to pass out from excitement and then a girl in Hufflepuff robes Harry assumed to be Susan Bones. Harry was pleasantly surprised to see that she wasn't the plain looking girl that he'd thought, but in fact a pretty, if slightly chubby brunette with a heart-shaped face and warm brown eyes, the corner of her mouth pulled up in what seemed to be a permanent almost-smile as if she was in on a joke that no one else had worked out yet.

"Miss Bones, I presume?" Harry asked with a smile. Her mouth tweaked into a slightly larger smile as she nodded.

"You assume correctly, Mr Potter."

"Black-Potter" Harry and Sirius corrected at the same time, eliciting groans and rolled eyes from the rest of the group even as they grinned at each other.

"So, this is Daphne Greengrass, Neville Longbottom and Susan Bones who will be joining us for the classes, Fred and George Weasley and Lee Jordan, fourth years in Gryffindor as well, have popped down to say hello." He motioned each of them forwards in turn, "From the Higgins Security Group we also have Tommy Lock" a lean bald man in his mid-thirties and with cold grey eyes nodded to them "Katy West" the woman grinned at Neville and Hermione, who gave a nervous smile in response "and Terry Higgins, younger of the Higgins brothers." The three of them were dressed in light combat robes, dragon-hide armour heavily etched with defensive runes and dragon hide boots, the handles of swords visible over one shoulder, stocks of muggle assault rifles over the other and pistols holstered at both hips.

"Alright." Terry waved at them, and Hermione was struck by the faint similarities between Sirius and the other man in the nose and the laughter in the eyes.

"We also have our instructors, Mr Smith" the asian man in robes styled to look like a muggle martial-artist from the films Hermione's father so often watched gave the slightest bow of his head in acknowledgement "and Miss Samantha Louise Jackson, or Sam for short." The heavily scarred blonde rolled her eyes but waved none the less, dressed most casually of all in muggle sweat pants and filling out a pink hoody with the sleeves torn off at the shoulders in a way that defied anyone to question her femininity, despite the battle-marked face and arms.

"Last, and by all means least," Harry continued with a grin "my adoptive family, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin" the two men grinned as well, even as Sirius pulled Harry into a head-lock that the boy quickly struggled out of. "Though some of you may know them by their stage names of Padfoot and Moony." At this, the twins and Lee's eyes went wide, their jaws dropping open at meeting their idols.

"Oh do close your mouths, gentlemen" chastised Remus lightly after a moment. "You look like oiks." Three mouths clicked close in unison.

"You're Padfoot?" Asked Fred, staring at Sirius with undisguised awe.

"You're Moony?" George asked Remus, voice hushed in reverence, and they both earned themselves nods and smiles in return.

"Founding members of the Marauders, at your service gentlemen." Sirius gave an overly elaborate bow.

"Wait, what happened to Prongs and Wormtail?" Asked Lee in confusion. The smiles faded and a shadow passed behind their eyes.

"Prongs was James Potter's moniker, and Wormtail..." Sirius trailed off, face going hard.

"We don't talk about _him_" Remus growled out, the hatred clear in his voice and expression terrifying. Lee gulped audibly and stammered out a very nervous apology.

"Ah, welcome, welcome!" Lee breathed out a quiet prayer of thanks at the interruption as they turned towards the newcomer, the hands of all three HSG team members flashing instantly to wands and weapons. "I am the Headmaster of this fine institution... Master Chur-i-Zhien, what an honour to have you here." Dumbledore's self introduction was cut mercifully short as he caught sight of Mr Smith and bowed impossibly low for a man of such advanced years.

"Headmaster Dumbledore." The man replied, earning surprised looks from everyone who had heard him speak before as he adopted a slight Chinese accent and bowed almost as low.

"What a pleasant surprise..." the old wizard seemed completely knocked off track by the unexpected arrival and even the rest of the group seemed somewhat bemused by the interaction between the two men. Dumbledore blinked twice before shaking himself back to the present, his eyes twinkling away behind the half-moon glasses "Anyway, I have taken the liberty of setting aside one of the side chambers from the Great Hall for you to use, if you would like to follow me?" He paused, sharp eyes snapped to the weapons on clear display on the three HSG soldiers. "I must ask though, is it really necessary for you to come quite so heavily armed? To a school of all places?"

"Yes." Katie replied, taking position at Harry's side as Terry Higgins met the Headmaster's disapproving gaze calmly.

"Due to the recent legislation, the threat against our employer is considered to be high," he elaborated as they began walking in the direction of the Great Hall "the heir of the House is to be provided with an armed escort at all times. And this isn't heavily armed."

"Hmm" Dumbledore seemed far from convinced "never-the-less, this is a school - "

"Where you employ a marked Death Eater as a professor" interrupted Katie, turning her cool gaze towards the Headmaster at last "how does it feel to know that you will now be paying his wages directly to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" Dumbledore's expression turned thoughtful.

"Do you know, I had not considered that? Measures must be taken..." He trailed off as they passed through the Great Hall and to one of the side doors, the studded, dark oak planks opening into a spacious room set up with several target mannequins at one end, a padded duelling area laid out at the other and a row of benches along one side. "I trust everything is to your liking?" Mr Smith gave the room a long, considering look before grunting and giving the smallest of nods in approval.

Dumbledore conjured a comfortable looking armchair and settled down. "Yes?" He asked of the questioning gazes of the adults. "Ah, you see there must be a representative from the school to observe the lessons, I'm sure you understand."

"That is why I have been invited, Headmaster." Frank Longbottom hovered his chair silently into the room "I spoke with Miss Jackson and Master Chur-i-Zhien this lunchtime by Floo to make the arrangements. After all, I am sure that you have much more important things to attend to."

"Not really." Dumbledore replied cheerfully "The school pretty much runs itself, and for everything else I've found Professor McGonagall to be a more than capable Deputy Headmistress."

Sirius and Remus shared a quick look before Sirius stepped forwards "In which case, Headmaster, you are more than welcome to stay. Of course, you will have to agree to the same Oath of Secrecy that everyone else here is to give." Dumbledore gave him a mildly surprised look.

"Magical oaths are very serious magic to be using at the best of time, my boy, especially considering that you are talking about children under my care." He said after a moment. "In fact, I feel that I cannot condone such binding taking place without the expressed permission of - "

"The parents?" Interrupted Sirius, smoothly removing several forms from an inner pocket of his robes. "The waivers have been signed by the parents of Miss Greengrass and Miss Bones's aunt, who had them written up. Professor Longbottom's signature is required on this one" he passed another form to Frank, who began reading through the document carefully "and the children in question will, of course, have the oath and possible consequences of breaking it fully explained to them as well as the reasons such an serious piece of magic is considered necessary."

Dumbledore's eyebrows began climbing towards his hairline as he read through the document, trying and failing to find any flaws in the wording. He counted carefully through them and then glanced around at the gathered students before looking back at Sirius. "There are only waiver forms here for Miss Bones and Miss Greengrass" Frank Longbottom added his signature to the parchment next to his wife's' before handing it across to Dumbledore "and Mr Longbottom. Not for Miss Granger, or the Messrs Weasley or Jordan."

"Indeed there are not, and they will not be attending these lessons unless they can convince their parents to sign the waivers." Agreed Sirius. "I would, however, very much appreciate the opportunity to speak with my son's friends about his time at school so far while the lesson takes place." Dumbledore's annoyance at being dismissed from the lesson was quickly washed away by horror at the thought of what could happen if the school's current generation of pranksters began colluding with some of the most infamous tricksters of the last hundred years.

"I..." He trailed off, completely at a loss as to how he could begin some serious damage control.

"Awesome." Whispered Lee and the twins. _Oh crap_. Thought Dumbledore.

Sirius held the door open and nodded towards the Great Hall. "I'll be with you in five minutes." The trio bounded out eagerly, followed by a rather disgruntled Hermione, angry that she was being excluded from any opportunity for extra learning but placated for now with a waiver form clutched in her hand, striding with grim determination towards the owlery. Sirius turned back to Dumbledore "You can, of course, stay while we explain the oath to them and answer any questions they may have." The older man frowned but nodded at the offer and Sirius motioned towards Remus, who stepped forwards with a smile.

"Now, the reason you have all been invited here is because your parents are involved in the legislation that has just been passed, specifically the legal case against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Your mother," he nodded at Neville "is representing the victims, your father" Daphne gave a small nod "is providing a significant amount of the behind the scenes work for the case, much as he did for the legislation passed last week, though his role is likely to become much more public over the coming months, while your Aunt, Miss Bones, is providing us with much of the information that will be used in the case." Susan's perpetual smile gave a proud twitch at the statement. "And as you are no doubt all aware, the Black family is footing the financial bill for the legal case. Because of your families involvement, there is some concern that you may become targets yourselves, hence your presence here today. The reason you will be required to submit to a magical oath is to allow you as much of an advantage as possible if you find yourself in a confrontation - while we cannot hide that you are receiving extra lessons, we don't have to tell people how much you have learned. Like wise, we do not wish you to reveal how advanced your fellows are, so should you decide that you no longer wish to take part in these lessons, you will receive a modified memory charm which will allow you to retain the skills, but not the memory of the lesson."

"So we wouldn't remember the lesson but we'd still be able to defend ourselves?" Clarified Susan, earning herself a smile from Remus.

"Indeed, Miss Bones. Now, your respective guardians have signed off on these and should have written to you explaining this as well, but the oath itself will allow you to discuss the class and any content with anyone of those involved, but not disclose the details to anyone else - your guardians have submitted to the same oath and you can, of course, discuss things with them, though I would recommend discretion and avoid mentioning anything but the vaguest of details in any communication that can be intercepted." Remus' expression then turned very serious "Now, should you break the oath, your life and your magic is forfeit - the vow normally takes place between two people, with a third as binder. This one will be between the four of you, Miss Jackson, Master Chur-i-Zhien, Professor Longbottom, and myself with the magic from each of us binding the others and Master Chur-i-Zhien and I acting as the binders of the spell, as Sirius did for your guardians. Should we bring in additional tutors throughout the year, they will also be bound by a modified version covering their involvement. Are there any questions?"

"That... that's quite a spell, Remus." Observed Dumbledore quietly. He wasn't wrong - magical oaths binding more than two people were rare because they were incredibly complex to cast, but also because the requirement for them was minimal, usually relying on trust between groups of friends instead. Remus gave a tight smile and nodded. Dumbledore sighed and, realising this was his cue to leave, levered himself out of the chair, vanishing it with a nonchalant wave of his hand. "But then you were the most gifted of students. Do any of you have any questions?" The students shook their heads, all eager to begin the lessons. "Are you all content to submit yourselves to this oath?" There was a round of nods and yeses, and he made his way from the room, mildly concerned at once again being excluded from an opportunity to exert his control over the Boy Who Lived but having no desire what-so-ever to restrict himself with a magical oath. The three HSG members followed him out, taking up guard positions outside the door, grim faces looking more than capable of discouraging any potential snoopers.

Back inside the room, Sirius clapped his hands and grinned around at everyone "Right then, places please Master Chur-i-Zhien - "

"Fucking hell Sirius, stop butchering my name" Harry smirked at the surprised expressions on his class-mates faces as the Asian wizard's accent lost all semblance of being from the far East and became one from the Far East End of London. "back to Mr Smith till anyone else joins us."

"Sorry, Mr Smith and Remus, if you would be so kind?" The two men took their positions opposite each other and Sirius waved the students into position, one to each side, before Sam and Frank took positions within the gaps to form a circle that alternated child-adult-child, with the two binders at the twelve and six positions. They joined hands to complete the link.

"Ok then, repeat after us..." Remus nodded across the circle at Mr Smith, who nodded in reply and the two men began to speak in unison "I swear upon my life and my magic"

"I swear upon my life and my magic" chorused the others dutifully. There was a slight pause before the magic became visible, gold from Remus and silver from Mr Smith, seeping from the pores of the binders, appearing first around their chests and then snaking down their arms towards their joined hands as it were sentient, hunting for the other half of the binding.

"not to reveal the content of these lessons to anyone outside of this circle or my designated and bound guardian" the two men continued. As the echo from the others was voiced, tendrils of magic reached the first set of clasped hands, wrapping tightly around them before creeping up their arms. "To only use these skills when necessary in the defence of my life or to help those whose lives are in danger." The magic of the bond was moving faster, surging down the arms of the students and towards the hands of the next adult. "This I swear, so let it be." As the magic found the other part of the bond, the tendrils began to intertwine, twisting over, under, knitting together and spreading rapidly around the circle until everyone was bound by gold and silver. When the final words were said, the magic began to fade, seeping into the skin and leaving only the arms and hands bound until even that was absorbed.

With a sigh, Mr Smith and Remus nodded at each other again, smiling around the circle at the rest of them. "Sorted." Mr Smith said cheerfully. "Now, first up will be some basic hand to hand for you guys with Sam, I'm going to be working with Harry and thrashing him till his eyes bleed." The others grinned until they saw Harry's nervous expression, realising that their new teacher was probably quite serious about it.

"Why hand to hand?" Asked Susan curiously.

"Because you won't always have your wand" explained Sam "and sometimes even with your wand, you'll end up close enough that you're able to strike against your opponent - even the best of wizards can't cast a spell if you've just kicked them in the balls." Neville smirked as he realised the origins of what had recently become the unofficial motto of Gryffindor house. "You're going to need some more suitable clothes than robes though - we can transfigure them for tonight, though I'd recommend getting something more permanent for next time. I'd also recommend you start a little extra training to improve your stamina, magical and physical, but that's up to you."

With a wave of her wand, Sam had transfigured the robes of her new students into sweatpants and tee-shirts and Harry realised with a blush that Susan wasn't slightly chubby, but had in fact developed a little earlier than the rest of the girls in her year and was filling out her new clothes rather nicely. Mr Smith clipped him on the back of the head. "Focus you little pervert." He said with a smirk, fortunately quietly enough to avoid being heard by the others.

As Sam took the others through the basics of close quarters combat, focusing on a Chinese discipline she called Wing-Chun that utilised an opponent's strength and size against them and was perfect for the students who would most likely be facing off against larger and stronger opponents, Mr Smith pulled Harry towards the duelling area.

"Right, today we're going to focus on a mix of magical and non-magical combat against multiple opponents." Harry glanced around curiously. Remus was stood to one side, chatting cheerfully away with Frank Longbottom and Sam was engaged in teaching the others.

"Who am I fighting?"

Mr Smith's grin took on a decidedly evil twist. "Me." Harry felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Who else?" Harry asked, now very nervous, and the grin became downright sadistic.

"Me." Harry gulped. With a twist and a flick of his wand Mr Smith cast a spell on himself "_San ju shiti_". He shivered and took a step to the right and a step to the left. At the same time.

"Oh fuck me." Whispered Harry, now facing three Mr Smiths, each with an identical evil smile.

"Chinese duplication spell." The one on the right said with a smirk.

"Better than a mirror image coz we can still do stuff like this." The one on the left said, reaching out to flick Harry on the ear with a most definitely solid finger. Harry swiped at the arm, only to get a kick to the back of the knee from one that had circled behind him. He didn't try to fight for his balance, instead following his momentum and rolling to his feet, desperately chaining together a stunner, a bludgeoning spell and a leg-locker, all of them either blocked or parried.

"Oh this isn't fair!" He protested loudly "I can barely hold my own against one of you, let alone three!"

"Correction" smirked the Mr Smith Harry thought was the original "you can barely hold your own against me when I'm going easy on you and I've had a heavy night the night before. But that's beside the point, life is rarely fair." He began advancing towards Harry, two of them tucking wands away and spreading out as they approached him. "Do you a deal though, if you manage to land a punch or spell on any of us by the end of the session, I'll teach you how to cast it."

Harry's eyes widened as the possibilities began to go through his mind and his jaw was set with determination as he dropped into a fighter's pose. "Deal." He said with a feral grin. In less than ten seconds, he was flat on his back and nursing a very bruised jaw, having fallen to a punch landed by a leaping Mr Smith number one as he was distracted by jumping over a leg-sweep from Mr Smith number two and casting a stunner at Mr Smith number three. "Ow." He commented from his new position on the floor, gratefully accepting the hand from the leg-sweeper and climbing to his feet.

"Trick with multiple opponents is to try and use them all against each other." Number one commented.

"Move around so that they're in each other's way" advised number two as they began circling around Harry, while their prey desperately tried to keep them all in sight at once.

"Lastly, as with all fights" advised number three "be merciless" Harry barely blocked a punch and shielded against a kick "be brutal" a badly dodged bludgeoner sent him staggering into a vicious kick that took his legs from under him dumped him unceremoniously on his face "be victorious." Number two reached down and hauled Harry to his feet again.

For the next thirty minutes, Harry found the cycle continued to repeat itself. Just as he thought he was about to land a blow or spell on one of them, another would intercept or strike him first. After the fourth time he was starting to think the task was impossible and as they reached number seven, though he was lasting a little longer each time, he was almost convinced that there was no chance of success and was wondering if there was a single inch of his body that wasn't going to be covered in bruises.

_Lucky number eight_, Harry thought cracking his neck from one side and then the other, moving to keep all three Mr Smiths in sight. He snapped his wand out casting three quick spells, a ball of energy that gave a jolt like a muggle taser, a blinding flash of light and a quick disillusionment charm on himself. Keeping his footsteps as light as possible, he circled round.

"Good tactic." Number two praised with a small smile.

"Numbers don't count for much if you can't see your opponent." Agreed number one, turning around to look for the tell-tale heat-wave like shimmer that gave away a disillusioned adversary.

"Doesn't help if you're fighting someone who isn't an idiot and knows how to fight your basic disillusionment charm though." Said number one, snapping his wand out and conjuring a rope tethered to his wand like a whip, snapping it out and around Harry's ankle, giving it a vicious tug that pulled him off his feet even as he made his move.

The charm failed, revealing a winded Harry who was doing his best to smile through the pain.

"You little fucker!" Number two exclaimed, failing to block Harry's punch to the ribs as he was pulled through the air by the whip.

"I got you though." Harry wheezed as he clambered to his feet. "And you." He waved towards number three, who was looking in surprise at the jagged tear in his clothing and the score in the skin underneath where Harry's slasher had landed.

"You got lucky." Growled number two.

"Twice?" Asked number one with a small smile and a nod of congratulation to Harry. "And so you see the limitation of this spell. It's not a duplication so much as a division, you can give them magic and skills, but you're splitting what you already have, so you won't all be as quick or strong and you're splitting your consciousness so you need to be good at multi-tasking if you want to do anything but the simplest of tasks."

"Seemed plenty strong enough to me." Muttered Harry, rubbing his jaw as the three Mr Smiths walked together and merged back into one and grinned back at him.

"The more you divide yourself, the more magic it takes to sustain and the less you can pass around. It also deteriorates the longer you keep it going." Harry nodded in understanding.

"How long can you keep that up for?" Remus asked, joining them and handing over gratefully received bottles of water to each of the combatants. Mr Smith shrugged.

"I could probably keep three going for a day, maybe a day and a half, but I've not really pushed myself to see."

"Interesting." Frank Longbottom joined them, though kept much of his attention on his son being manipulated into position by Sam. Harry wasn't entirely sure if Neville was flushed from exertion or the proximity of the attractive blonde trainer, who was currently pushed up against his back and dragging his arms around in an odd sort of embrace as she taught him the movements for blocking an incoming punch. "What's your maximum number?"

"I managed about a hundred and thirty once," Mr Smith admitted, earning himself a whistle of admiration from Remus and shocked expressions from Harry and Frank "but it's pretty tiring, and I could only keep that number going for about two, maybe three minutes, tops. Your control is pretty limited too, the best I ever heard of was a Chinese magician who used this while performing in a muggle circus - said he had fifteen identical twin brothers and they all used to do gymnastics together, kept it up for about twenty-five minutes on average, though he swore blind he could go for an hour."

"How come I've never heard of him?" Asked Remus. Mr Smith gave a dark grin.

"The Chinese Emperor heard the boast and told him he wanted an hour-long display, poor bloke collapsed from magical exhaustion at fifty-eight minutes and was executed for his failure." Harry winced at the thought before continuing the questioning.

"So what happens if one of you dies while you're split?"

"Well you're splitting your consciousness, your magic, and your self between however many, so if one dies that portion is re-distributed between the others." Mr Smith explained "I don't know what the effect would be if one of you got hit by a killing curse and I have no intention of finding out. The reason you don't often see it in combat is because it takes a lot of energy and concentration to cast and maintain, kinda like trying to juggle in the middle of a gunfight, y'know? It's also really obscure, so not many people know about it and it's a bastard to learn, so not many people who do know about it actually manage to cast it." He admitted, screwing the cap back onto his water bottle.

Harry set his own bottle down before turning back to Mr Smith "That's the other thing, how did you see me? I know the Disillusion charm isn't foolproof, but I wasn't moving fast enough to be noticeable…" he trailed off, looking at his teacher hopefully.

"Use the Force." Was the reply, delivered with a wink to Remus that earned a groan from Harry. Mr Smith relented and began to explain again. "So you know when Luke is learning to use his light saber on the Falcon and Obi-Wan has him blindfolded, gets him to sense where the drone is from its movement in the Force?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded and Remus bent to explain the concept of Star Wars to a very confused Frank Longbottom.

"Similar concept with magic - concentrate hard enough and you can feel the magic as you cast a spell - "

"Like when we were learning wand-less and silent casting." Harry said, earning a nod from his tutor and an appraising look from Frank Longbottom, who was beginning to realise that this particular student had been seriously holding back in his classes.

"Yeah, pretty much. Once you're used to the feeling, you start to pick up on it more, and with practice you'll be able to feel someone's presence through their magic." Harry nodded thoughtfully. "Tell you what, Sam knows this stuff too, I'll take the others for a bit of spell-work and you have a practice, we'll do the duplicate spell next time. For the rest of today, focus on trying to sense the magic as we're casting."

It was a very sweaty trio and a contemplative Harry who left the room forty minutes later, Harry having focused on trying to "Feel the Force", while Mr Smith put the other three through their paces with accuracy and speed drills similar to the ones practiced in the Duelling Club, with the slight difference being that he used Bludgeoners that hurt a lot more than a paintball hex. When the session was finally finished, Harry thought he had just about managed to feel that there was indeed magic in the room, but couldn't get any more than a vague direction.

Despite the more contact heavy lesson than they had previously received, Daphne, Susan and Neville were all determined to continue with their training, gladly accepting Terry and Sirius' invitations to attend the Higgins' Group BBQ at the weekend as they waved everyone off from the front gates.

"That was fun!" Said Neville cheerfully as they turned to head back towards the dorms.

"You're just saying that because you had Sam rubbing up against you." Daphne commented quickly, her eyes laughing even if she managed to keep the rest of her face controlled.

"I am not!" He protested, much to the amusement of the rest of them.

"You so were!" Susan put in, lowering her voice in her best Neville impression "'Oh, Miss Jackson! I can't seem to get this pose right, can you just show me how to do it again?'" She switched to a more feminine voice, thrusting out her chest in a manner that caught both boys' eyes. "'Of course Neville, let me just thrust my heaving chest into your back'" Harry let out a guffaw of laughter and even Daphne's control slipped enough to let out a small chuckle as Neville's face reddened further.

"I hate you all." He grumbled good-naturedly.

"See why I do excercise now?" Harry asked Neville, earning himself a grateful smile from the other boy as he deftly changed the subject.

"Yeah, actually. We still on for tomorrow morning?" He asked with none of the trepidation he had had the previous week and earning curious looks from the two girls.

"What are you guys doing tomorrow morning?" Asked Susan.

"Running and a few strength exercises" Harry answered "you girls fancy joining us?" Daphne and Susan glanced at each other before shrugging.

"Yeah, why not?" Susan replied cheerfully as she linked her arm through Harry's, much to his surprise. "Walk me back to the 'Puff dorms Harry?"

"Uh… sure?"

"I can manage that." Daphne agreed, her voice cool and gaze guarded as she took in the joined arms, turning on her heel and striding towards the dungeons.

"Do you, umm, want me to walk you…" Neville stammered after her.

"Nope!" She called out, without looking back. Harry and Neville shared a look common to all men who realised that a woman was angry, and probably with them, but had absolutely no idea as to why. Neville shrugged half-heartedly.

"See you in a bit Harry." He said, feeling just a little jealous as Harry was practically dragged off by Susan. He sighed and trudged up towards the dorms. Neville's glum mood lasted all of ten seconds before he remembered the feeling of Sam Jackson pressed up against his back and grinned widely to himself._ Life is definitely not all bad_. He thought cheerfully, breaking into a whistle as he approached the Gryffindor common room.

_A/N: So I apologise profusely if this is more mistake-laden than usual. No beta reader and it's taken me sodding ages to get this even this far. As with the rest of the story, when I'm finished/have a spare couple of days I'll go back through and edit out the shit bits/mistakes. _

_Any how, I hope you enjoy, please read, enjoy and review!_

_YA_

_Notsoancientmariner_


	16. Chapter 16

**Thursday morning, second week of term.**

Somewhat to Harry and Neville's surprise, both Daphne and Susan were waiting for them in the entrance hall when they went down for their morning exercise. What increased their surprise even further was that the two girls seemed to be having a relatively civil conversation, right up until the moment Susan turned and saw Harry, giving a warm smile as the boys crossed the hall towards them, giving Daphne the perfect opportunity to stare daggers into the back of the other girl's head.

"Morning boys" Susan greeted them "what's the plan?" Harry grinned, leading them both out of the door.

"Jog down to the pitch, light stretch, then as much running as you can do in ten minutes. Then we'll do some strength exercises, another run then back up to the castle in time for breakfast."

"How many laps do you want us to do?" Susan asked, giving a slightly dubious look towards the quidditch pitch that looked a remarkably long way away.

"Two? I'm going to aim for four, but…" He shrugged and trailed off.

"Why are you doing more than us?" Asked Daphne irritably. _I hate early mornings_, she quietly added to herself, _and if that idiot Bones was any more obvious she'd be dry humping Potter's leg. Not that I care._

"Because I'm in better shape." Harry replied bluntly, taking off his hooded sweatshirt and tucking it behind one of the pillars beside the door revealing a tight-fitting sports vest with the emblem of two stylised 'H's on the chest.

"Yeah he is." Muttered Susan under her breath and Daphne found herself nodding in agreement, forgetting for a moment that she was supposed to have better control of herself than that and wasn't supposed to like the other girl. Fortunately it was dark enough that no one could see her blush as Harry led them outside and began their morning routine.

To Harry's surprise and Neville's embarrassment, the girls were in comparatively good shape, keeping pace with Neville for the first lap until his pride demanded that he push himself a little bit harder and a little bit faster on their first few laps. Harry seemed to notice as well, offering him encouragement and a little friendly banter as they progressed into a set of circuits that consisted of push-ups, sit-ups, squats, crunches, lunges and Neville's least favourite of all, some sort of vile torture Harry had introduced him to called 'the plank', which involved him supporting his weight on his toes and forearms while keeping the rest of his body off the floor and perfectly straight. He was almost glad when Harry announced that they would conduct sprints between the three sets of exercises they'd be doing that morning.

"Come on Nev, you're being beaten by a girl!" Harry would criticise as Neville reached the far side of the pitch where the other boy was waiting, Daphne and Susan a short way behind him, the next he'd be encouraging him as they were racking up the push ups. "Come on mate, centre of attention now." Neville glanced over, just catching the hurriedly aborted looks from Susan or Daphne as they worked through their own set.

By the time the sun had cleared the horizon, they were jogging at a pace barely above a walk back up towards the school.

"So, same time tomorrow morning?" Harry asked as they reached the Entrance Hall. The two breathless girls glanced at each other, apparently indulging in the form of telepathic communication unique to all women before nodding. "Sweet!" He flashed them a smile and began pulling on his previously discarded sweatshirt, turning to the stairs towards the Gryffindor tower. "See you at breakfast."

As soon as they were out of sight, Neville let his control slip and groaned, stopping and bending over as he clutched at the stitch in his side. Harry turned and gave him a sympathetic smile even as he pulled him upright and dragged him up the stairs.

"Keep moving" he instructed "it keeps the blood flowing faster which will help that stitch. You did good today though" Harry continued after a moment "I don't know if it was because of last night's lesson or because the girls were there but if you keep up that sort of effort you'll be set."

Neville said nothing, but he did set his jaw determinedly and strode next to Harry towards the Gryffindor dorms.

/

**Friday afternoon**

For the last two days of the week, Neville found himself on tenterhooks. Despite his previous misgivings, the exercise they did in the mornings was the most relaxing moment of his entire day. He still hated every moment of it, though he couldn't deny that he was starting to feel better for it, which was strange, because he hadn't noticed himself feeling bad before hand. No, it was the most enjoyable moment of his day because for the rest of it, he spent his time jumping at shadows, waiting for the moment that the parents of the Death Eaters would choose to exact their retaliation against him.

When the gong finally sounded on Friday afternoon that signalled the end of their charms lesson, he breathed a sigh of relief that even Professor Flitwick's squeaky voice calling for a foot of parchment on cooling and warming charms couldn't dissipate. He grinned at Harry as they strode down the corridor, book-bags over their shoulders and plans for the weekend that stretched before them running through their minds.

"So, when are we going to - " Neville's question was cut off before he could finish it.

"You two, stop!" They turned to see an incredibly annoyed looking witch hurrying to catch up with their longer legged strides as she balanced a stack of books that seemed way more than any reasonable person should need during a single day of school. They waited for Hermione to catch up with them and shrugged before following her demand to join her in a now deserted classroom. "I've been trying to get you for two weeks!" She said, glaring at Harry. He blinked in surprise, doing his utmost to keep his irritation under control.

"Well I'm flattered, but I have a - "

"No, you ffff- you flll- arghhh!" She slammed her books angrily down on the nearest desk, prompting Neville to jump in surprise, more from her treatment of books which, up until now received the same respect that most would accord to the lost treasures of ancient civilisations, than the noise. "You owe me answers!" She snapped, pointing at Harry.

His gaze cooled markedly as he folded his arms across his chest and his face was unreadable. "Do I now?" Harry's voice was the same calm tone that Neville recognised from the first confrontation with the Slytherins what now seemed like an awful long time ago. With a pang of guilt, he realised that he hadn't actually spent that much time with Hermione this term, reminding himself of how lonely and isolated she had been during her first year. Then he realised that he had hardly seen her to hang around with. _What have you been up to, Hermione?_ Neville wondered.

"Yes!" She insisted "I - sorry, we" she waved to indicate Neville as well "spent bloody ages at rugby games looking for you because you told me about that book after you hurt yourself during a match" _Book? _Wondered Harry, not remembering anything about the first time he had seen Hermione _What book?!_ "and now you come here and there are just more questions!" By this stage she had worked herself into quite a frenzy and snatched a sheet of parchment from her bag, waving it at him as she tried to calm her breathing.

He stared at her for a long moment, wondering just how much he would have to tell her about all himself to get her to leave him alone, while Hermione continued to glare at him.

"You might as well at least tell her a bit, Harry" Neville said, distracting them both "she spent a year and a half looking for you and that was just because she was mildly curious - now she's intrigued, there's no hope of distracting her."

Harry sighed, rubbing his face with both hands. "Fine" He reached out and plucked the list from Hermione's hands, reading from the top. "I can't believe you've written a full on list…

_Things to ask Harry Black-Potter_

_1 - how did you know about warding on the train_

_2 - how did you manage to switch Draco's chair legs for pencils in Transfiguration?_

_3 - why aren't you in Snape's potions class?_

_4 - how many languages do you speak?_

_5 - how were you sorted?_

_6 - how do you know Hagrid?_

_7 - why did you choose to stay hidden all these years?_

_8 - did anyone else find you?_

_9 - if anyone else did find you, what happened and why didn't they say anything?_"

Further questions about academics, just how far ahead Harry was, in what subjects and whether he could recommend any private tutors, had been scrawled out and replaced with other questions in a different handwriting.

"_10 - how long have you been going out with your girlfriend_

_11 - is it serious?_" Hermione blushed furiously as he read the last two out and he turned to look at her.

"The girls found out that I had a list of questions I wanted to ask you and insisted that I add those." She explained "I tried to stop them but…" she trailed off awkwardly and shrugged.

Harry sighed again, shaking his head in exasperation before taking a deep breath.

"I study ahead, same answer for question two, because he's a Death Eater and a monumental prick and I don't want to be there, five fluently, by the Sorting Hat, long story, security, yes, he adopted us and named Sirius his heir and we made him promise not to, two years this Christmas, pretty serious." He finished, grinning as Hermione snatched the list from him and began desperately scribbling down the answers. "And that's your lot, my turn. What book are you talking about and why did it start you looking for me?"

Hermione finished writing and looked up, a hurt expression on her face as she realised that one of major events in her first year, the one that had such a huge impact on her life since, setting her on this path and had prompting almost a year of searching and even longer of questions. "You - you don't remember?" Harry back and forth between Neville and Hermione, shrugging helplessly.

"Sorry?" He tried unconvincingly, not really sure if he should be apologising and if he should be, exactly what he was apologising for. Neville shifted awkwardly, feeling very uncomfortable at how hurt his friend appeared at Harry's ignorance, but in the end it was Hermione who squashed the emotions and explained.

"You were injured in a rugby game - " Harry shrugged sheepishly.

"Yeah, that happens a fair bit." Neville smiled wistfully at the memories of the games he had caught during their hunt for the last Potter.

"Well this time you ended up in my dad's dentist surgery," she continued, glaring at him for his interruption and began talking rapidly to prevent another one. "I was there because a troll had made its way into the school and I broke my arm when it attacked me, and I was studying a book on basic runes in my dad's office it was charmed to look like a muggle text-book but I was having problems understanding it, only you recognised it and suggested a different book, which was really good by the way, but it was only when I got back to school that I realised you'd suggested a magical book and so you had to be a wizard and then we started hunting for you…" she trailed off, realising that both Harry and Neville were staring at her in amazement at her ability to apparently go on and on without taking a breath. "What?"

"Nothing!" Neville calmed her "It's just I'm amazed you managed to say that all in one breath."

"Your boyfriend's going to be really grateful one day." Harry added with a wink, prompting a moment of confusion and then a blush so furious that Harry was worried the girl might pass out from all the blood in her face as she joined the dots.

"That's disgusting." Hermione mumbled but smiled shyly despite herself, scratching at her collar which suddenly seemed far too tight.

"Sorry, couldn't resist. One more question though" Harry insisted suddenly serious as he stepped closer and gently put a hand to her shoulder. She started a little at the touch, her eyes snapping up to meet his, momentary panic fading as she looked up into those green eyes that had most of the females and some of the males of the school swooning. She shivered as his hand closed gently over hers and brushed the sensitive skin on her neck, and she tilted her head back slightly even as he leaned in. _Was this… was he going to…_ She couldn't even think straight as his lips brushed her ear and his breath tickled against her as he spoke, whispering, soft and playful.

"Why do you have a Time-Turner?"

Her brain turned completely to mush as he leaned back, one finger gently tugging the golden chain from her where her fidgeting had revealed it and pulling the tiny hour-glass into view.

"Eep!" Came the small squeak as she desperately tried to kick her brain into gear.

"Neville, call the nurse, we have another one." Harry barked at his friend, remembering Ginny's reaction to him on the train at the start of term.

"That's where you've been all year!" Neville cried, massively grateful he was able to re-insert himself into the conversation after what had looked like Harry was about to kiss Hermione. Harry looked across at him in confusion and Neville shrugged. "She was saying last year that she was going to take all the options, I tried to tell her there wasn't the time, but…" He waved towards the time-turner and Harry nodded in understanding, letting the chain go and allowing it to slide back out of sight.

"Eep" Hermione tried again. Harry gave a small sigh but smiled as he carefully straightened her collar for her, making sure that none of the chain was showing.

"You should be careful" he chastised her gently "those things are really rare, and if people saw it they might try and take it from you." He turned towards Neville, who was smirked and shaking his head at Hermione's reaction to Harry's proximity, fairly sure he just heard a small sigh of disappointment from the girl. "Shall we head out to the lake?" Harry got a nod by way of response and the two boys turned to leave the classroom. "You coming down Hermione?" Harry called over his shoulder from the door.

"I… I'll be down in a minute." Came the shaky reply as she finally found her voice. The two boys disappeared and she tried to shake off the silly fluttery feeling that she was sure she'd heard Lavender Brown or Parvarti Patil talking about but completely ignored as utter drivel, as with most of their conversations. What she really needed to do, she decided, was write down exactly how she was feeling so she could examine it from a scientific point of view. Yes. That would definitely help.

/

**Saturday afternoon**

Harry was the first to arrive at the HSG house on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, the other students having various stops they wished to make in the town before joining him. It was small cottage on the outskirts of Hogsmeade that Arcturus had gifted the Higgins brothers when they first started their business. Apparently it had been almost as derelict as the Shrieking Shack before they had begun repairs several years ago, and it now boasted several expansion charms on the rooms, allowing for accommodation for up to twenty of them, albeit in rather cramped conditions, heavy warding and an armoury with enough guns and ammunition in it to make a South American dictator or crime lord jealous.

Making his way through the house to the garden, Harry greeted the mercenaries with friendly smiles before snagging himself a can of coke from one of the coolers and went to chat with Olaf the softly spoken Swede and the almost permanently miserable Darren Carter, a muggle who the Higgins brothers had met during their time in the military and apparently kept around out of a sense of duty towards an old comrade in arms despite the fact that he seemed to hate anyone who could do magic and didn't make much of an effort to hide it, at their place manning the BBQ.

"How is your school-work going, Harry?" Asked Olaf politely, prodding at the burgers on the grill with a pair of tongs.

"Meh" Harry see-sawed his hand back and forth "so-so. I'm fairly far ahead of the others, so most of it is reviewing stuff I already know, but the other kids are nice I guess." Darren scowled as he twisted the top off another beer, but said nothing. Harry was fairly sure that he was bitter over his lack of magic but was at a loss as to why he wore a perpetual scowl when the other non-magical members of the group seemed perfectly well adjusted.

"Any problems with the children of the Death Eaters?" Arcturus asked from his relaxed position in one of the deck-chairs, fingers idly stroking a disturbingly familiar looking cat that was purring happily. Harry felt the vomit rising in his throat and his face paled as he noticed the tabby.

"Is that…" His hoarse whisper trailed off as he swallowed back the bile.

"Good afternoon, Mr Black-Potter." Professor McGonagall greeted him as she transfigured smoothly back into her human form, remaining perched on Arcturus' knee, his arm around her waist.

"Yes, Minnie and I are old… friends" Arcturus settled on after a moments thought. McGonagall smiled up at a shell-shocked Harry.

"I… umm…." Darren sniggered at his discomfort. "Congratulations?" Harry tried, earning a happy nod from Arcturus as McGonagall settled back against him. He looked around desperately, spotting Sam Jackson and grabbing her arm "Have you seen Remus?" He asked, a tinge of desperation in his voice. She looked at him, spotting Arcturus and Minerva over Harry's shoulder and guessing the cause of his discomfort.

"Nope, why?"

"He's pretty good at memory charms and there's a mental image I _really_ need to get out of my head." He muttered in response, earning a pout from Arcturus, a blush from McGonagall and guffaws of laughter from Olaf. He even got a smirk from Darren.

"He has gone off on a job for your godfather." Darren supplied "Not sure when he's getting back, but he shouldn't be too long." Harry smiled and nodded his thanks.

"Oy! Pup!" Sirius' call caught Harry's attention and he joined his godfather with an older, stern looking woman, two witches of Sirius' about age, one of whom he could identify as Alice Longbottom from the photo that waved out at them all from Neville's bed-side chest and another wizard Harry hadn't met before. Sirius grinned and wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders, greeting him warmly even as his tone became more formal. "Harry, please say hello to Madame Amelia Bones, the Head of the DMLE, Lady Alice Longbottom, Lady Ishta Shafiq and Lord Joshua Greengrass, your great-grandfather's, and our, political allies."

"My ladies and lord." Harry greeted them with a shake of the hand and a slight bow "I have had the pleasure of meeting your heirs, may I just say - "

"Oh can we please dispense with all the formalities?" Interrupted Lord Greengrass with a theatrical sigh, "We are all friends here and we all know that we are going to be supporting each others political aims, can we please just enjoy the BBQ?" Harry cast a slightly shocked look up at his godfather, who seemed just as derailed as he was as the man Sirius had expected to be a stickler for manners and customs completely derailed the formal introduction.

Seeing he was going to receive no advice from Sirius, Harry turned back to their guests. At a loss as to where to go from here, Harry settled for "Can I get you a beer?" receiving a very genuine smile from Josh Greengrass and nods from the others with the exception of Madam Bones, who abstained in favour of pumpkin juice as she was on call at the Ministry. Returning with their drinks just as they were joined by the wooden-legged and one-eyed Alastor Moody, Harry joined in with their discussion on the longer reaching effect of the Control of Magical Creatures Act, outlining the efforts put in place to protect the other students from the retaliatory attacks that had been the concern of the adults with children at the school.

"Good work, boy" commented the grizzled old wizard with a nod "Constant Vigilance!" His electric blue eye darted from one member of the HSG team to the next, frequently returning to Sirius as his remaining eye met Harry's own. "Glad we're meeting on happier terms this time."

There was the briefest flicker of emotion behind Harry's eyes before he responded. "Thank you, Auror Moody. It's good to see you again too." Moody toasted him with a battered hip-flask, twisting his scarred face into a smile.

"It's ex-Auror. I'm retired now." He rolled his shoulders as if stretching out after the extra weight that had been taken from his shoulders. After a moment his artificial eye settled on Harry as his natural one twinkled. "Seem to remember you out-drawing an Auror that day as well, boy." Moody's fingers flexed and the corner of his mouth twisted slightly higher.

Harry grinned widely, wiggling his own by his hips, imitating the cowboy's he had seen in some of Remus' favourite films. "Reckon I could outdraw one today too, old man." Sirius snorted softly in amusement and Moody's electric eye snapped towards him even as he raised his hands carefully away from his wand and the eye twitched back towards Harry.

"Aye boy, reckon you probably could." Moody admitted with a gruff laugh. Josh Greengrass chuckled at the posturing between the old and the young.

"Are we done with the testosterone fuelled grandstanding gentlemen?" He asked with a wry smile, turning as he caught sight of the new arrivals "Regardless, please excuse me while I greet my daughter." He added, nodding towards the blonde schoolgirl, who moved quickly forwards to meet her father. The twins and Lee weren't far behind, and with a nod and a smile to Moody, Harry moved to intercept them.

"How's it going gents?" The twins winked opposite eyes at the same time, making it look like one twin had blinked and been split in two, while the other kept his eyes open to make up the other half.

"We picked up a delivery today." Fred said with a cryptic smile.

"Some very interesting stuff." George admitted, shaking Harry's hand. The other boy's eyes widened slightly before returning the smile, letting go of the hand and palming the small package that had been passed.

"Do I even want to know?" He asked the twins. It was Lee that answered, mimicking the red-heads' smiles.

"Peruvian Darkness powder" Harry quirked an eyebrow in question and Lee continued his explanation "release it and there's no light spell that will show through it."

"Huh." Came Harry's thoughtful response. "Well that sounds like it could be useful."

"Doesn't it just?" Agreed Fred.

"Free sample for you, pal" added George "we trust you'll put it to good use." Harry's grin widened.

"I'm sure I can find a suitable opportunity for a trial run." He said, sliding the small pack discreetly into his pocket as Susan and Neville shouted their greetings from the back door of the house and moved out to join the others already in the garden.

After twenty minutes of chatting with his grandfather's political allies and their children, Harry was able to corner Sirius.

"Where's Remus?" His demand was instantly met with Sirius' well practiced look of assumed innocence.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He stated neutrally.

"Fine" Harry agreed genially "where's Fiona?" Sirius' fake innocence was replaced with genuine sadness. He pulled Harry to one side.

"All is not well in paradise" Sirius admitted quietly "pretty much constant arguing about how Muggles get treated, Fiona asking Remus to leave and him saying no." Sirius saw the look of horror on Harry's face and realised it for what it was, pulling Harry's chin up so they were looking into each other's eyes. "Now listen here, Harry. This has nothing to do with you." Harry's eyes dropped and Sirius knew he'd gotten it right in one.

"It's just…" Harry trailed off, trying to put his thoughts into words. "If it wasn't for me, Remus wouldn't be staying."

Sirius cuffed him alongside the head and pulled his chin up again, pointing his finger at Harry to emphasise his point. "Not. Your. Fault. Understand?" He used his hand to nod Harry's head and then gave him a quick hug. "Good. Now, on a brighter topic, I've heard a rumour that you're a little bit ahead of everyone else at school." He pressed a small book into Harry's hands. "This might keep you occupied for a bit, might even give you a bit of an advantage in a fight." Harry's eyes darted towards the cover and for the second time that afternoon, though this time they went much wider and took on a rather vicious sparkle. _Find Your Inner Animal - Discovering your Animagus Form._

In the castle further up the hill, Albus Dumbledore straightened up at his desk even as Fawkes screeched, magician and familiar gazing down towards the town with the undeniable feeling that something very, very important and probably very, very bad, had just happened.

"Oh, and I have another surprise for you later on." Sirius added with a twinkle in his eye. Harry stared back at him suspiciously, trying to break through the innocent look now back on the man's face.

"What have you done?"

"Why do you assume that I've done something?" Sirius demanded. It was times like these that Harry really reminded him of both James and Lily, having inherited James' ability to see through any façade that Sirius tried to put up, and Lily's piercing glare that always made him feel like an errant child. Come to think about it, both of those traits could have been inherited from Harry's mother. After a long moment of Sirius shifting uncomfortably under the green-eyed gaze, he wilted. "I got a job." He admitted, looking at the floor and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Uh-huh?" Harry's reply came with folded arms and an expression that clearly expected further information. Sirius sighed and dropped into a chair, waving for Harry to take the spot next to him, glancing around to make sure no one was listening in before casting a discreet but very advanced privacy bubble.

"Now this stays within the family, ok?" Harry nodded, listening intently as Sirius continued. "I used to work as a Hit-Wizard during the war. Me and your da were partners and we were good at what we did. Long story short I got my old job back. Start on Monday."

"Is it dangerous?" Harry asked quietly, earning himself the same look that he had given Hermione when she had asked him about Josef's insults to him during Defence Against the Dark Arts. He gave a sigh and rubbed his face. "Of course it's dangerous." Sirius nodded grimly.

"I can hold my own." He said quietly, not sure if he was convincing himself or Harry, who turned to give him a skeptical look from his young charge.

"I've beaten you." Harry countered. Sirius shrugged and smiled at him, remembering how this conversation had gone with Arcturus and Remus.

"I was going easy on you." He said, repeating his answer.

"Huh." After a moment of companionable silence he carried on. "That's probably good - you need something to keep you out of trouble." Sirius snorted in amusement and Harry smiled back up at him "Just be careful, alright?"

"Right you are, boss." Sirius agreed with a mock salute, earning a small laugh from Harry. "Back to the party?"

"Back to the party." Agreed Harry, admiring the spell-work as Sirius took down the privacy ward. "You know you're going to have to teach me that one?" His comment drew a grin and a nod from the older man. "You also need to tell me what this 'surprise' is." This time Sirius just gave a loud bark of laughter and a wink, pushing Harry towards the younger crowd as he went to join Josh Greengrass.

Thirty minutes later, Harry, Neville and Daphne were chatting away with Sam Jackson, partly about their next classes and partly on Harry's whining about Sirius' 'surprises' when she looked over his shoulder back at the house. She smirked at him "Reckon I know what that surprise might be." Pointing up at the recently arrived Remus and his guest.

"Vicky!" Harry ran up the garden to greet the girl, smiling broadly as they met. It was Neville that caught the look that crossed Daphne's face as Harry swept the girl into a hug and span her around. He pulled her by the hand to meet the rest of the guests as Neville turned to the young Slytherin.

"You know - " he began nervously, wondering if there was anything he could say to tone down the jealous gaze she was sending back up towards the house.

"Shut up, Neville." She snapped, before he could get out another word, switching her glare from the happy couple to the boy at her side. Apparently it was only Harry who was immune to the look as Neville faltered under it, retreating to speak with his mother and leaving Daphne to redirect her ire back towards Harry and Victoria as they spoke with Sirius and some of the HSG team members.

"Tell me, daughter" Josh Greengrass said, placing a hand on her shoulder and startling her out of the daydream she had indulged herself in of throwing the other girl from one of the towers at the school "what has this young muggle done to you that makes you give her a look more suited to someone who has just soiled the grave of your grandmother. May she rest in peace."

Daphne tried glaring at her father, who just smiled benignly back down at her. With a huff, her expression morphed from hatred to carefully regulated neutrality with surprising speed for one so young. "Nothing, father." She grumbled in reply.

"Then may I suggest you go and speak with her? She might actually be quite nice, and she clearly means a lot to Harry, who you have apparently taken a shine to." And just like that, she was again glaring at her father.

"I have _not_" she vehemently insisted, "taken a shine to _anyone_, least of all _him._"

"Of course you haven't dear." Joshua agreed dismissively, patting her condescendingly on the head as he left to make his way towards Ishta Shafiq and Alice Longbottom. "Run along now, and do please at least try to play nicely."

Much to her annoyance, Daphne couldn't find anything wrong with the other girl, who had smiled and offered a hand to shake when Harry introduced the two of them. _Right, Daffers,_ she thought to herself, _be a normal girl, be a normal girl, be a normal girl. FUCK! Now my inner voice is using that stupid nickname. Pull yourself together Greengrass!_

"Vicky, meet Daphne Greengrass, she's in some of my classes at school."

"Hi!" The blonde girl greeted her cheerfully.

"A pleasure," Daphne replied as she plastered on a fake smile "Harry's told us a lot about you, it's good to finally put a face to the name." _She even blushes prettily. What a bitch._

"Good things only, I promise." Harry insisted, earning a roll of the eyes from his girlfriend as the afternoon descended into a collection of stilted conversation as the magical students and adults tried to avoid talking about magic without killing the atmosphere. Eventually it was Victoria who hit the jackpot.

"So is he still playing the cello?" She asked Daphne and Susan as Harry and Neville entertained the twins and Lee with Harry's rugby stories.

"Cello?" Asked Daphne incredulously "Harry plays the cello?!" Her raised voice managed to break into the boy's conversation as well and attracting their attention.

"Oh crap." Muttered the boy in question.

"Yeah, he's really good!" She turned to Harry with a disappointed look on her face "Don't tell me you've stopped playing?"

"No!" Harry lied awkwardly, avoiding her gaze. "I've not played since..." He waved awkwardly, and a sad smile crossed Victoria's face as she tucked an arm around him.

"You shouldn't stop playing just because of that." She chastised him, even as the others swapped confused looks.

"What happened?" Susan asked uncertainly.

"Harry used to play with Isaac" Victoria explained with a sigh and Neville's eyes widened with realisation "he died at the end of last year." There was an awkward silence as Susan tried to work out how to extract her foot from her mouth, only to be saved by Victoria. "But that shouldn't stop you playing" she said with a hint of anger as she punched Harry lightly in the ribs "and besides, it's a good way to remember him."

Harry sighed and nodded, running a hand through unruly black hair. "Yeah, I guess so." He admitted.

"The cello, Potter" Daphne said after a pause "I just can't picture you playing music."

"Why not?" Harry protested, glad for the change in subject.

"It's just you're such a... _boy._" Supplied Susan, not sure how best to put what apparently both she and Daphne were thinking. She was certain that the other girls back at the school would be more than happy to hear this newest bit of information about the Boy-Who-Lived and judging by the smirks on the other Gryffindor's faces, they'd be more than happy to spread this little tid-bit around as well.

"Oh Harry's very in tune with his sensitive side." Victoria said, winking at her audience and sniggering at Harry's ensuing blush. She pulled the locket from around her neck, opening it up to show the photo of the two of them asleep together on the sofa, earning noises of appreciation from the girls and grins of amusement from the boys. "Oh and you should have heard the story he told me when he gave it to me" she continued, her grin turning downright evil at her boyfriend's discomfort. _Shit, I think I might actually like his girl, _Daphne cursed herself, doing nothing to stop the enjoyment she was also taking at the increasingly desperate look on Harry's face as he tried to get his girlfriend to stop the story and failed miserably "he said it was magic and that he'd cast the spells himself - "

"And on that note, I think we should change the subject." Harry interrupted, desperately trying to stop the story in its tracks. Victoria turned to pout at him, missing the shocked looks that passed between the other students at Harry having given a magical necklace to a muggle. "No one wants to hear that story - "

"On the contrary, Mr Black-Potter" came a new voice. _Oh crap._ Harry winced as he slowly faced the stern visage of Professor McGonagall "I think we'd all like to hear this story." Victoria looked uncertainly between Harry and the stern older woman who had been cozying up to Harry's grandfather earlier on.

"Professor McGonagall!" Harry greeted with false cheer "Have you met my girlfriend yet? Victoria Hastings, please may I introduce one of our professors and my head of house, Professor Minerva McGonagall."

"Lovely to meet you, Professor." Said Victoria, shaking the older woman's hand politely and smiling just a little nervously "I trust Harry's behaving himself?" McGonagall had not mastered the same level of twinkling eye that Dumbledore had, but she had managed to trademark a certain stern smile that reminded the vast majority of its recipients of their grandmothers and their inability to lie to them.

"Wouldn't that be nice?" Asked McGonagall, pursing her lips and allowing a smile to crinkle the corner of her eyes. "I believe you were about to tell us a story though."

"Oh... um..." Victoria began, glancing at Harry, who shrugged, knowing that there was nothing more that could be said that would dig him out of this particular mess. After the briefest pause, she began the story. "Well we'd been going out for just over a year, and Harry got me this for Valentines day." Once again she showed off the locket around her neck and McGonagall beant closer, gently holding the locket away from Victoria's neck as she examined it.

"What lovely work." She whispered, casting an indecipherable glance at Harry, before leaning back and motioning for Victoria to carry on with the story.

"Anyway, Harry told me that it was a magic locket, that all I had to do was hold it and think of him and he would be able to see me and that I'm ok." She smiled up at Harry even as Fred made a retching noise, prompting George, Lee and Neville to chuckle nervous amusement in the face of their stern house mistress, while Susan cooed and Daphne wished she was far enough away from everyone else to be quietly sick in a corner somewhere. "He insisted that he had carved in the charms himself, that there was some special magic, passed to him from fairy - or was it goblin? - jewelers, who made it in the forge of some mystical mountain." She cuddled up next to Harry, who wrapped her into a hug as she stood up on tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek "And then he spent three days and three nights casting the spells over it before he put the photo of us in there and gave it to me on Valentines day."

"What a charming story." McGonagall said with a smile. She glanced around the gathered students, who shuffled nervously under her gaze. "Unfortunately I'm afraid I must break up this little gathering, it is high time we returned to the school. Ladies, Gentlemen, please be ready to leave in ten minutes."

/

Despite having been pulled away from the BBQ early, Harry was smiling all the way up the path to Hogwarts. He had promised Victoria that he would ask about getting the following weekend off for her birthday party, but judging by the glares that McGonagall was sending his way, he wasn't overly hopeful.

"Mr Black-Potter" she began as they reached the gates. _Here we go, _thought Harry. _Sorry Minnie, but you ain't got squat on me! _"are you aware of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Law?"

"Not the exact wording, but I'm fairly sure that I understand the gist of it." He admitted carefully as the others listened in and cast occasional sympathetic looks his way.

"And can you think how you might have been in violation of this law?"

"Not really." He replied, his grin not slipping in the slightest as everyone missed a step at his flagrant denial of facts.

"And what would you call the enchantment of a muggle necklace?" McGonagall asked with an arched eyebrow.

"It's not muggle" he replied with an off-handed shrug "it really was goblin made." The travelling party nearly missed another step as he admitted to having given Victoria what must have been a heinously expensive locket considering the price of goblin-forged jewellery.

"What about the Statute of Secrecy?" Asked Susan, blushing as Harry sent a small frown her way.

"Not really an issue in this case" he said nonchalantly "for it to be considered a breach of the Statute, there has to be an intent to expose the Magical World or the possibility of its exposure through negligence or carelessness, which isn't the case here. My story for Vicky, despite being the truth, would be dismissed by everyone who heard it as a silly story from a boyfriend to a girlfriend - you'd have to be magical to see the runes and charms, and then you'd be bound by the Statute not to reveal it." Harry clarified with a smile. Behind him, McGonagall pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to will away the impending migraine.

_This,_ thought McGonagall, _is going to be one hell of a long year._

/

**Thursday, Third Week of Term**

"Right then, Potter, what do you want to have a look at first?" The afternoon sunlight gave the classroom a warm glow, the blocks of sandstone that made the castle seeming to absorb the rays from the wide windows. Professor Babbling had informed them at the start of the afternoon that their request to look at the Sorting Hat and Ravenclaw's Diadem and now Daphne was sat at the desk, a sheaf of parchment and quill ready on the desk beside her, gazing with unchecked curiosity at the objects in front of her.

"Er…" Harry turned guiltily from a desk on the far side of the classroom where he was unloading his own books and parchment.

"Why are you over there?" The girl asked irritably.

"Um…"

"Just tell her." A third voice chimed in. Daphne turned her glare on Harry, who at least had the grace to look embarrassed. The third voice sniggered at his discomfort.

"I… uh… I might have made the Hat a promise." Harry said by way of explanation.

"What?" Despite herself, Daphne was now almost as interested in the story as she was in the enchantments on the Sorting Hat and Ravenclaw's Diadem lying on the table in front of her.

"Yeah… So… Um." He looked up bashfully. "Not really sure where to begin."

She narrowed her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. "Let's try the beginning."

"Hmm" Harry looked up at the ceiling for inspiration, trying to ignore the Hat's cackles of amusement. "Shut up Hat. So. Um." Daphne's foot started tapping impatiently. "Well, long story short, I promised to hook the Hat up with Ravenclaw's Diadem if it Sorted me into whatever House I wanted."

"Ahem" a fourth voice chimed in "what?" Harry turned to the jewel encrusted tiara on the desk next to the Sorting Hat.

"Well this is awkward." The Sorting Hat observed, amusement clear in it's voice. Daphne eyed up a guilty looking Harry before sighing and turning to pack her books away.

"That sounds exactly like something you would do." She muttered, smiling at the absurdity that seemed common with any event involving Harry. "Come and find me when they're done flirting and we can do some work." And with that, she left the room.

"Um." Harry turned to the two pieces of enchanted headgear confusion at not being shouted at clear on his face "So how long do you guys need?" The tear at the brim of the Sorting Hat that served as a mouth split open to respond only to be cut short by an angry cry from the corridor.

Harry strode across the room, pulling the door open to see a now truly pissed off Daphne struggling between Crabbe and Goyle, a sneering Draco holding her wand in his free hand turned to face the new arrival.

"Let her go." Demanded Harry quietly.

"I don't need your help, Potter." Insisted Daphne angrily

"Well isn't this interesting?" Draco observed to his henchmen, ignoring both Harry and Daphne. "The stuck up Slytherin and the Gryffindork hiding in classrooms together. What will people say?"

"Let her go." Harry repeated, slipping his wand into his hand.

"Now now, scar-head" Draco tutted "no magic in the corridors."

"Fine, I'll beat the shit out of you without magic, let her go." Harry returned the wand to his pocket and began advancing on them. Draco turned to Goyle and gave him a nod.

Unknown to most of his school friends (not that he had many) Gregory Goyle spent most of his time outside of school left to his own devices. If they were going away for a long time, his parents would hire a squib nanny to look after him, though they frequently forgot and young Greg would be left to amuse himself. This past summer had been one of those occasions and early on he had stumbled across a muggle cinema showing old films. For a lack of anything better to do, he had spent much of his time staring fascinated at the moving pictures, not that he would have admitted this to anyone. Another interest that had been sparked by the cinema was in boxing and he now leapt at the opportunity to quote one of his favourite films as he moved forwards, fists raised in passable imitation of a boxer's stance.

"I must break you." He mumbled threateningly as the two closed on each other.

Unfortunately for Greg, no amount of watching Rocky will impart enough skill to compete with over two years of intensive hand to hand training and as he made to swing for Harry, the other boy pivoted on one foot and delivered a text-book roundhouse kick to the face that left the larger Slytherin stunned and slumped against the wall, wondering exactly what had happened.

Daphne had been mildly irritated at having been involved in Harry's machinations with the Sorting Hat, had been further angered at being waylaid by Draco and his goons and being seen as a damsel in distress now had her ramped up to truly furious. Fortunately, she had the perfect opportunity to both vent her frustration to put into practice the recent lessons from Sam Jackson, stamping her foot hard onto Vincent Crabbe's instep before slamming the heel of her hand into his nose and earning a very satisfying crunch of bone and squeal of pain. Draco, now alone and facing two very angry students who had just demonstrated that they could probably cause him quite considerable damage without magic, began backing away as he went for his wand.

"You can't touch me!" He blustered "My father - "

"Is a dangerous magical creature who no longer holds any political power and whose wealth is shortly to be significantly diminished." Countered Harry. The shock as Draco realised the veracity of the statement made him pause in his retreat and unfortunately for him, this meant that Daphne was now within striking range.

Her foot connected perfectly and Draco's eyes crossed, the air whooshing out of his mouth as pain radiated up from between his legs. Harry winced in sympathy as Daphne glared down at the now prone Malfoy who could well be the last of his line. He covered his own crotch in pre-emptive defence as she turned her gaze back towards him.

"I told you I didn't need your help, Potter." She growled out and Harry nodded in agreement.

A quiet, angry voice from the far end of the corridor stalled any further comment. "What, exactly, is going on here?" Harry groaned quietly and turned towards the speaker who was now advancing on them, cloak billowing and face contorted into an angry scowl.

"Oh Professor, I'm so glad you're here!" Daphne began. Harry spun to her in surprise, only to find the face that had just moments before been angry and determined was now a combination of frightened and relieved. "Harry and I were just working on our runes project and I stepped out for a moment when these three tried to attack me - if Harry hadn't stepped in, I don't know what would have happened!" Daphne's inner feminist stood in the corner of her mind, arms folded and shaking her head in disappointment as she channeled the normally ignored 'Lavender Brown' side of her character. It even spoke with the drippy girl's voice.

Snape glared around at the bodies on the floor. Harry, not entirely sure where Daphne was planning to go with this, shrugged and mumbled something to the affirmative.

"And why would they attack you?" Snape asked Daphne, his voice barely above a whisper.

She swallowed nervously, realising that they had been discovered by the worst teacher possible. "Because my father helped with the recent Magical Creatures legislation." Daphne answered eventually, doing her best not to let her gaze drop to Snape's arm and the tattoo that was hidden there. There was a long pause as they all tried to work out what was going to happen next.

A groan pulled their attention to the prostrate form of Gregory Goyle. "He kicked me in the face. That's not fair." Snape's lip twitched and his eyes darted back towards Harry.

"Indeed it isn't." He observed quietly "Detention, tomorrow night Mr Potter, and twenty points for fighting in the corridors. Report to Mr Filch at eight o'clock sharp."

"But I - " His outraged protest was cut short by Snape's cold stare and a discrete shake of the head from Daphne "what about them?" He waved towards the three Slytherin boys.

"I think their recuperation in the Infirmary will give them more than enough time to consider the stupidity of their actions." With a flick of his wand he levitated Draco and Goyle, motioning for Crabbe, limping and clutching the bleeding ruin of his nose, to follow as he turned away.

Harry slumped miserably against the wall and waited for him to leave before muttering insults about the departing teacher's poor personal hygiene.

"Oh, get over yourself, Potter" Daphne sighed as she bent to pick up her wand from where Draco had dropped it "it's only a detention, and something tells me that you've had one or two of those before as well."

"It's not the detention, it's the day - Vicky's birthday party is on Friday, I wanted to go."

"Ah. Sorry." She stood awkwardly next to him for a moment before waving vaguely towards the classroom they had just vacated. "Shall we see if those two are done? Maybe we can salvage something from this afternoon after all."

With an unhappy sigh, Harry nodded, pushing himself to his feet and opening the door. Daphne followed him through, bumping straight into his back as he stopped short at the sight that greeted him.

"Dammit Potter, don't just stop - " She was left speechless at the sight before them "What… I mean… how is that even possible?" She asked faintly, tilting her head to one side to see if viewing from a different angle made any difference. It didn't.

"I think I want to be sick." Harry muttered as they both backed out of the classroom and closed the door behind them. There was a long, uncomfortable moment as each of them tried to scrub the image from their minds.

"Let's never talk about that. Ever." Suggested Daphne as Harry gave a full body shiver, nodding enthusiastically in agreement before making their way towards the library.

/

**Friday Evening**

Harry was bored. He had reported to Mr Filch as directed and was now polishing the silver in the trophy cabinets by hand.

"You know you don't have to be here, don't you?" He commented, not for the first time, to his companion for the evening. She shrugged.

"I shan't be here for long," Daphne replied "but I figured that as you got into this detention because of me I could at least keep you entertained for a little while at least. How long do you have to be here anyway?"

"Two hours total, so only another" he made a show of checking his watch "one hundred and eleven minutes to go." She grinned, shaking her head at the poor humour as Harry turned back to his polishing.

"So I never did ask you, what enchantments did you put on that locket?"

"Oh that" Harry said, smiling to himself as he put one random award back and pulled forth another, blowing off a small layer of dust before buffing it with a cloth "it's a fairly simple communication charm. When it's triggered it sends an image of the wearer to the person it's keyed to - in this case, me."

"Smart." Daphne conceded, wandering between the rows and idly examining anything that caught her eye.

"Yes" agreed Harry, keeping his back to her to hide his grin "I suppose I am."

She sighed dramatically. "And there I was thinking that we were having a moment where I could pay you a simple complement and you had to go and ruin it by being you."

"Yeah, one of my many endearing traits is just how me I can be."

Daphne groaned and punched him lightly on the shoulder, turning towards the door. "That, I think, is my cue to leave. See you later, Potter. Only another ninety four minutes to go!"

"Laters Daffers!"

Thirty three minutes later, Harry felt the familiar tingle that indicated Victoria was thinking of him. With a sad sigh, wishing he could be with her and their friends but willing to settle for the next best thing, he lowered his Occlumency shields, preparing for the image of the crowd at the party.

With a loud clang the large silver cup dropped from his hands and his blood turned to ice as he recognised the faces staring back at Victoria on the other end of the bond. Ignoring the fallen trophy, he turned and ran from the room.

/

_A/N. Sorry (not really) for leaving it on a cliff hanger but I would imagine some of you will guess where this is heading. A more genuine apology for my prolific foul language in the earlier chapters - I'll try to tone it down._

_Thank you once again for reading and for the reviews, they make it worth while!_

_YA_

Notsoancientmariner.


	17. Chapter 17

_A/N: You didn't really think I'd keep you all waiting a week for the next bit did you?! Heads up though, this gets pretty dark. You have been warned. Thank you all for the reviews though and a very specific thanks to Andor Swiftblade for stepping up as Beta and some very welcome ideas. _

* * *

Harry ran, his legs pumping, horror and desperation driving him forwards, his mind moving even faster than his feet as he flew along the empty corridor towards the tower, frantically trying to work out what the hell he could do. He skidded to a halt in front of the portrait that guarded the Gryffindor Tower.

"Right before might," he blurted out the password, ignoring the disapproving look he got from the Fat Lady and her muttered comments about running in the corridor. His dishevelled appearance drew a few murmurs and a shout of displeasure from the Head Boy as he sprinted through the common room and up the stairs.

"Hey Harry, I thought you had detention?" He ignored Neville's question and began tearing through the contents of his trunk. First out was a small pocket mirror that he propped on the top of the chest, tapping it roughly with his wand.

"Sirius!" His voice trembling even as he continued to pull pieces of dark, scaled clothing and carefully wrapped bundles from his trunk.

"What's happened to Sirius?" Fred inquired from the doorway, Lee and George not far behind him, having followed Harry as he sprinted up the stairs. Neville shrugged helplessly as he watched Harry shrug out of his robes.

"Harry?" a voice questioned from the mirror, prompting the other boys to gather round and stare in amazement at the face that greeted them. One thing that was painfully obvious was that it wasn't Sirius Black.

"Remus - no time to explain, where's Sirius?" Harry snapped, pulling his custom dragonhide armour on. It had been carefully designed for him over the summer; weighing lighter than the full heavy armour sets that the Higgins Mercenaries used to suit his smaller frame, the dark green colouration showing it to be from a Common Welsh Green, making it tough but still quite flexible. Against the original colour of the scales, faint runes could be seen carefully etched into the hide, the grooves filled with gold filament so thin you could almost miss it.

To his credit, the man on the other end of the mirror didn't hesitate, though his concern at seeing Harry reveal both the mirror and the armour to the other boys was obvious. "He had work, I'm just getting ready for the full moon. What's going on?"

"Bellatrix and Peter are at Vicky's party. Others too, couldn't get an exact count," Harry explained, unrolling the largest of three bundles. The four others in the room and Remus at the other end of the mirror gaped in shock. Harry didn't stop moving, pulling the straps of two sheathed swords over his shoulders, leaving the handles in easy reach as he tightened the harnesses. He slid his yew and Thestral hair wand into the holster on his left forearm, his original holly and Phoenix feather wand being sheathed into the one on his right arm, muggle pistols holstered safely into the ones at his hips.

"Get to the Hogsmeade cottage, take a team with you! I'll send get word to Sirius and Arcturus." Remus said quickly, turning away and disappearing from the mirror. Harry nodded absently as he slid rune-etched combat glasses in place of his usual wire framed spectacles, turning to dart from the room, leaving his friends too stunned to move. He took the stairs three at a time, almost bowling an angry Percy Weasley over as he made it to the bottom.

"Now look here, Potter, I don't know who... wait a minute, what are you wearing?" Harry ignored the Head Boy's incessant questions, moving rapidly across the common room, heedless of the now frightened looks he was getting from the occupants. Then someone caught his eye. The only person paying attention to something other than him, and something flared in his memory. He swerved from his path, the eldest Weasley following him and demanding answers.

"Granger!" he snapped and the bushy head jerked up. The scowl at being interrupted was quickly replaced by concern as she saw his outfit. He held his hand out. "Give it to me." Her hand went subconsciously to the Time-turner under her robes.

"I - I can't!" she stammered, instinctively clutching the delicate device.

"Potter, you had better - " Without looking, Harry's hand flashed up, over and out, and the Head Boy found himself suddenly at a loss for words, three feet of rune-etched goblin steel held unwaveringly at his throat. Harry barely spared him a glance, and the eyes that glared at him from the other end of the sword were a cold, Killing Curse green, burning with a restrained fury Percy fervently hoped he would never have to see again.

Harry turned back to Hermione. "Now!" The word came out in a low, guttural growl, but it was the look in his eyes that had Hermione snatching the priceless item from her neck as if it was searing her skin.

"You don't understand!" she cried desperately as Harry snatched it from her, sheathing the sword and turning from the stunned room. He paused at the entry way, not looking back. "They locked it when they gave it to me, only five hours a day and - "

"How long is left?" he demanded, cutting her off.

"Half an hour," she said quietly, "thirty five minutes at most."

Harry ran. The corridors of the castle passed in a blur, throwing himself recklessly down staircases, along, forwards and then through the entrance hall and the main doors, into the night air, his entire focus on reaching his destination.

_Breathe in, run, breathe out, RUN!_

Reaching out with every sense to determine when he passed the anti-Apparition wards around the castle… _There!_ With a pop and a gut-wrenching twist, he stumbled back into existence fifty feet from the door of the Higgins Cottage, barely keeping his feet as he staggered forwards, building up his pace as he passed through the next set of wards and sprinting up the path to pound on the door.

"What?" the terse question greeted him.

"Darren, no time, any magicals here?" Harry panted.

"No," replied Darren Carter, face twisting further into its habitual scowl, "Some job they didn't want us mere mortals for."

Harry's face crumpled for the barest fraction of a second before being overrun with frustration and anger as he turned and sprinted back down the path, Apparating away as soon as he hit the edge of the ward line.

He reappeared in front of the Hastings house in London where Vicky had been having her party and winced at the sight. The entire house was surrounded by flashing blue lights and a group of curious bystanders. Casting a quick Concealment Charm against himself to hide his armour and weapons, he pushed to the front just in time to hear an explanation from a nearby policeman who was addressing the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if I may have your attention?" The mutterings of the crowd dulled as the man called everyone's attention "It would appear that there has been an attack on the residents of the house, thirty-four Riverview Close. We are currently carrying out an investigation; however, if anyone has any information as to what may have happened here this evening, please, come forward and let us know immediately - "

_Useless,_ thought Harry, _no answers_.

Pulled Hermione's Time-turner from his pocket and tossing it quickly around his neck, he gave it a quick turn. Just as she had said, it stopped at just halfway through the turn, the magical bindings around it preventing him from going any further. He swore viciously even as the crowds around him went into a rapid rewind and disappeared behind the doors of their own homes, the police cars reversing away at high speeds and then nothing.

Time began flowing normally again, just in time for Harry to hear a loud crack echoing down the street. He sprinted forwards, taking the stairs up to the front door in two quick bounds. Forcing himself to stop, he pressed his back against the wall, straining to hear anything over his ragged beating or the deafening _thump-thump_ of his pulse. Nothing. Sliding his wand carefully into his right hand, he pushed gently against the door with his left.

He slipped in, wand held low as he tip-toed forwards. There was a sharp, metallic tang in the air, a bitter stench that made the bile crawl up his throat. Deep in his core, he felt something call out, a horrified recognition of something profoundly evil that he couldn't put his finger on. More worryingly was the smaller part that screamed in glee, begged him to let loose with something just as vile.

Dreading what he might see, he crouched on one knee next to the entrance to the large living room, remembering the moral of Mad-Eye Moody's story of losing his eye: never poke your head around a potentially hostile door at head height. Steeling himself, he darted his head around and then quickly back again. It took a moment for the image to process itself and when it did, he sprawled forwards, emptying the entire content of his stomach onto the floor in front of him.

After a long moment of retching, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, pushing himself to his feet with the other, no longer trying or caring for silence or stealth. Harry stared around the room in horror. Blood was everywhere, sprayed against the wall, the ceiling, pooled on the floor, still dripping from the table and soaking into the carpet.

A horrified cry from behind him had Harry whirling, wand raised and spare hand flashing to a sword at his back.

"Sweet Maeve, what has happened here?" Dumbledore gazed around the room, his face reflecting Harry's pain and horror at the devastation before them.

"Bellatrix Lestrange and Peter Pettigrew. Others as well, but they were masked," Harry answered shakily as he brushed away a tear from his cheek. A tingle at the edge of his mind had his sadness suddenly turned to desperate hope.

"You can trace the Apparition." It was a statement, not a question and Dumbledore nodded. With a determined scowl, Harry strode towards the older wizard and took a firm hold of the wrinkled hand. "Do it."

"Harry - " Dumbledore tried to protest, only to find himself on the receiving end of a gaze that brooked no argument.

"She's alive right now!" Harry snapped, "Do it!"

With a sad nod and a twist of his wand, Dumbledore and Harry Apparated away just as the first sirens made themselves heard in the distance.

Harry looked around. The sun had set during his flight from Hogwarts, light provided by the full moon and twinkling stars of the clear sky revealing a solitary, dilapidated building surrounded by trees. He spared the briefest of thoughts for Remus who would be howling away somewhere, before ruthlessly crushing it down. With a gasp of relief, he felt another tingle. This close, he would have known where she was even if it hadn't been blindingly obvious. He activated the charms on the glasses that would allow him to see the wards and glared at the small cottage before him, recognising a newly erected and still charging protection scheme. Just as he was turning to Dumbledore to point out how to deconstruct it, Harry cursed, tearing the goggles from his face as the older wizard cast a spell at a figure shambling towards them.

"What the hell?!" he demanded angrily. The Headmaster didn't look at him, instead keeping his wand pointed into the darkness. The old man's eyes, normally twinkling with laughter, were now a cold, icy blue as they darted from shadow to shadow.

"Inferi," Dumbledore muttered with a grimace, desperately seeking any further signs of the abominations. "Cursed corpses. Fire drives them back, removing the head or destroying the brain stops them."

Harry glanced at the once-animated corpse that was now just a headless corpse lying a few feet from them. An adult, but not one he could recognise any more. The snap of a twig jerked his attention and his wand up to the shadows. The spell froze on his lips.

"Diana…" he whispered in horror, as the corpse of his girlfriend's mother shambled out of the darkened woods, one arm extended towards Harry, jaw working, eyes staring blankly a dark slash across her throat and a dark stain down her favourite dress showing her cause of death.

"Harry!" Dumbledore shook him by the shoulder, concern clear in his voice. His eyes flickered between the corpse and Harry's shocked expression, quickly working out what had happened. Another tickle at the corner of Harry's mind snapped him from his shock and a look of grim determination crossed his face. Green eyes met blue.

"Vicky's still alive!" Harry insisted, looking towards the house and reactivating the ward goggles, desperately ignoring the flash of spell fire behind him as Dumbledore disposed of the undead Mrs Hastings. He made a silent promise to mourn for her later, too focused on his goal to notice the ward-line he crossed.

A piercing shriek of an alarm and several flashing lights had him once again tearing the goggles from his face and Harry realised he had made a terrible mistake. He looked desperately at Dumbledore, who took a worried step towards him before pausing and looking around in horror. Magical flares bathed the area, brighter than daylight and giving everything a washed out colour, including the hundreds of animated corpses now ambling towards them.

With an anguished cry, Harry flicked his spare wand into his hand, screaming the incantation that was a surefire way to get himself and possibly everything within several miles killed.

"No!" Dumbledore lunged forwards, knowing even as he did so that he was too late.

The spell shot from Harry's spare wand, lancing towards the warded house and lighting up the protective scheme. As soon as it connected, the shifting patterns froze for the merest hint of a second before swirling around the impact point, twisting in on each other and then joining together, forming a single beam that erupted back down the same path, slamming into the young boy and holding him in place as it forced its way into him.

Dumbledore sank to his knees in horror as the magic connected, the only hope for the wizarding world drawing in the magic that powered the wards in a futile attempt to drain the scheme and reach the girl held behind them. There could only be one outcome and it broke the old wizard's heart, his hopes for the future of the wizarding world fading before his eyes as more and more magic was siphoned off and into a too small vessel, damning them all.

For Harry, time seemed to slow. He saw the spell leave his wand, the coalescing of the different wards as they swirled around and around like water draining from a bathtub and he was underneath it, trying to swallow it all. The magic flowed into him and he drank, pulling at it like a man dying of thirst in the middle of a desert, only to find that all too soon he was full. He remembered one of the first books he had read about ward-breaking that said you could only take so much power before you had to get rid of the excess.

_Dumbledore said they fear fire, didn't he?_ He gazed around the approaching Inferi, the bright light helping him recognise more faces of people he recognised as Vicky's friends and family amongst the shambling crowd. _Please forgive me._

Harry screamed. An ancient, brutal cry of pain and anguish as he unleashed gouts of flame from his holly and Phoenix feather wand, red and yellow muted by the flare-light, consuming the slow-moving animated corpses before they could retreat, and he felt something inside of him snap as he drew in more of the ward's power. He felt his vocal chords rip and shred, his voice drowned out by the roar of flame, only for them to be instantly repaired by the overflow of magic his body desperately sought to be rid of, flooding every pore, every cell and then creating more just to use itself up, the ache from this morning's workout vanishing as the torn muscle fibres repaired themselves stronger than ever before, his eyes twisted as the astigmatism corrected itself and his eyesight. He bellowed his rage at the unfairness, the brutality of what had happened to those he cared for, the casual violence and heinous magic that had been inflicted upon them for the crime of merely being his friend or even simply knowing him, even as something else snapped, and he forced more and yet more power into his spell.

The dark little piece of him that had revelled in the bloodshed and gore at the Hastings house cried out in the darkest recess of his mind, a hissing, seductive whisper.

_Releasssee mee!_

His anger, his rage, the feral side of him that he felt rarely enough that it scared him, snarled back at the voice in defiance. There was another snap, deep inside of him, and with an animalistic yowl of pleasure, the shadow shot from his core, dancing from the tip of his holly and Phoenix feather wand, only to scream in horror and try to claw its way back as it was consumed by the flames, as Harry pushed more power into the spell and the fire… changed.

Red and yellow flames curled in on themselves, twisting and consuming itself, reducing in size and yet becoming something more. A shape, a writhing, roiling serpent of fire began to take form, following the commands of the boy wizard who had summoned one of the most destructive of magics, streaking around the house and consuming everything within its path, rearing to a halt as it returned to its summoner. It gazed down upon him, eyes flickering the dark black-red and flaring yellow-white of lava, unblinking. Harry felt part of himself call out to it, the burning anger in his chest finding kinship with the malignant manifestation before him, and the creature seemed to give the barest of nods as each of them recognised some deep-rooted similarity within the other.

"Harry - " Both boy and fire-snake turned to the forgotten old man, and in that momentary lapse of concentration from the master, the beast struck, stopping a fraction of an inch from the powerful mage shield the elderly wizard produced, the Fiendfyre snake struggling against Harry's command to get at the wizard behind the shield. Despite his power and even without any strain put on his shield, Dumbledore felt the heat from the fire beyond the crackling blue boundary, could smell his clothes smouldering and feel the itch of sweat as it trickled freely down his back. Under different circumstances, he would have been marvelling at the power involved - it wasn't even touching the shield, held at bay by sheer determination as Harry tried to re-assert his will over the creature.

Dumbledore made eye contact with Harry, the boy straining as he pushed against the unrestrained being of energy. "Go, Harry. Save your friend." He barely even registered the nod Harry gave in response before the boy ran with magically enhanced speed towards the now defenceless house. He straightened, letting the shield drop as the fire-serpent pulled back, bunching its flaming coils as it prepared to strike.

The old wizard smiled up at the towering pillar of hatred and fire. It had been some time since he'd been truly tested and Albus Dumbledore had been a little bored of late. "Come on then, beasty," he whispered quietly, "Let's see what you've got."

* * *

Ever since the escape of Bellatrix and Pettigrew, Alecto Carrow had wondered when she and her brother would be called upon to dig out their old robes and masks and resume their old activities. Each night, when she curled up in bed, she said a silent 'thank you' to whatever power it was that had kept them from her door that day. Tonight she would be saying no such prayer. She was even beginning to fear that after tonight she would never say much of anything ever again.

Two days earlier, Bellatrix and Peter had moved in with her and Amycus. The Carrows had never been as vastly wealthy as some of the older Pureblood families such as the Blacks or the Malfoys - in fact they were downright poor, and with the new legislation making it almost impossible for them to find decent work, they were serving the final days of notice on the three bedroom cottage before being thrown out on the streets. To add insult to injury, the two convicts had taken Amycus' and Alecto's rooms, forcing the siblings into the guest room, meaning they didn't even have their own beds for their last few nights at home.

Bellatrix and Peter had described their plan - a simple 'smash and grab', targeting the muggle girlfriend of the Boy-Who-Lived, the one they hated more than any other for ruining what they had had during the Dark Lord's rise. Snatch the girl and any guests, then bring them back here, send a demand to Potter for a meeting and then the Boy-Who-Lived would become the Boy-Who-Lived-No-More.

Then they had got to the house and it had all seemed so much better - the girl was having a birthday party. Pettigrew had changed into his animagus form, listening in to the conversation, hearing the lamentations of their target that her darling boyfriend couldn't be with her. Bellatrix had almost squealed with joy, the prospect of having so many more hostages had driven her wild. And then, after all that planning and a stroke of divine luck, Bellatrix had snapped when it really mattered, pulling her cursed blade and slaughtering damn near everyone. Still, they had managed to salvage some of it - Alecto had grabbed the girl and now they also had a few more recruits to add to the army of Inferi that was defending their cottage.

"And it was all going so well." Amycus whispered, horrified, from his position by her side, the firelight from outside casting shadows across their faces. His hand slipped into hers and they drew comfort from each other as they always had. They had rushed to the windows as the wards triggered, signalling intruders. At first, they had been concerned that they had been discovered early, but when the flares had gone up, they had seen only the hated boy and the equally hated Dumbledore - even the most powerful wizard in Britain couldn't take down the wards the four of them had erected without help, even if they were only partly charged to prevent the house defences from frying their Inferi army. And then the boy had done something unbelievable. He had collapsed the wards himself, channeling the energy through his body to burn the walking corpses, summoning a Fiendfyre serpent so large that even the Dark Lord's creations could not compare. It twisted and writhed, circling the house in an instant, burning away the tall trees, the undead and anything else that dared to stand in its path, all on the whims of a wizard barely into his teens. The crack behind them as Pettigrew Apparated away was barely noticed, though Alecto dearly wished she and her brother had been able to do anything other than splinch themselves when they were learning.

"That's not possible!" whispered Alecto as she saw the giant serpent swaying before its creator as if awaiting command. She felt her brother's hand tighten around hers as it seemed to strike towards the silhouette of Dumbledore and his translucent shield. They dared to hope the boy had lost control of his unholy creation, wishing with all their hearts that the fire would destroy the two assailants and give them time to escape. Her lips twisted into the start of a smile as the Fiendfyre struck again, turning to her brother to crow in triumph when she saw his horrified expression still staring out at the flames.

Against the backdrop of the underworld itself came a blurred streak, a demon sent from the seventh circle of hell to claim them for the Devil himself. She didn't even have time to scream before their world exploded in shards of glass and pain. Their grip on each other's hands broken and brother and sister found themselves thrown like rag-dolls to opposite sides of the room and for the Carrows, everything went mercifully black.

Harry dove through the window, rolling over the broken glass and picking up cuts and scratches that healed instantly. All of his senses were at their peak, jacked up beyond anything the human body was designed for. His eyes crackled with energy, seeing the grain of the wood beneath the paintwork, the individual hairs on the arms of the two unconscious Death Eaters at opposite ends of the room.

_No time to finish them now_. He snarled out a borderline dark curse that bound them in razor-wire that would constrict the more they struggled.

He felt his skin close over as it healed the cuts and scrapes from his entry, ears picking up the terrified squeals of rodents in the walls as they tried to escape the heat outside, his… he stopped, breathing deeply through his nose, trying to filter out the smoke and soot and sweat he had brought with him from outside, searching for a scent he knew intimately. He stretched his magic outwards, trying to put Mr Smith's lessons into practice. It seemed like forever before he found what he was searching for, and then he felt relief and fear at once. Vicky was there, but she wasn't alone.

He ran, faster than ever. _That way!_ The door was closed and he went through it instead of wasting time opening it, leaving a cloud of splinters and sawdust in his wake as he charged towards his objective. _Please_, he begged, _don't let me be too late!_

He sprinted down a flight of stairs which led to the basement. The last door. It was open and he rushed through, pulling up short as he took in the sight before him.

"_No..."_ it came out as a pleading whisper. Bellatrix Lestrange was facing the door and holding the slight figure of the girl who had started his flight this evening in an odd embrace. The convict looked up and locked eyes with him, her face splitting in an unhinged smile as he gazed into the psychotic violet eyes of the hated woman.

"Harry!" she squealed with a happiness that was normally reserved for greeting a long lost friend, "Sorry, must dash!"

She spun the figure of Victoria and pushed her towards Harry even as she Apparated away. He barely even noticed.

"Vicky," he murmured as the girl took a hesitant step towards him. She looked up and met his gaze.

"Harry I - " She coughed, blood sputtering from her mouth as she stumbled to one knee, looking down in horror at the knife that jutted from her chest, one hand closed around the handle as if uncertain over whether she should pull it out. He caught before she got halfway to the floor, lowering her gently and holding the blade in place as he cradled her head in the crook of his arm.

He tried desperately to think what to do, glancing over his shoulder and praying that Dumbledore would choose this moment to make an appearance, knowing as he did so that it was a futile hope. He placed a gentle hand around the blade where it pierced the skin, pushing out with his magic, trying to feel what was broken, what was split, even as he tried to smile reassuringly through his tears.

"Don't worry, Vic," he whispered around the lump in his throat, "I'm here."

His body screamed at him to move, to run, fire curses, to do anything to expend the surplus energy that was eating away at his very being. He pushed it out, through his hand and into the wound in Victoria's chest, feeling the bursting pressure of too much magic ease a little, but not enough. The heart, pumping itself to pieces against the jagged blade, was held together, blood compelled to flow back into ruptured arteries. He slowly began to withdraw the knife, forcing more and more of the magic out of himself and into her, feeling the pressure within him lessen as he forced the heart back together and set it pumping again. Sliding the knife out further, he repaired the punctured lung, drawing out the blood that threatened to drown her, fusing together blood vessels, healing chipped bone and split skin until finally the knife was clear. He hurled it into a corner, breathing slowly as he focused on his magical core. It was full, and yet he felt somehow… not full. He ignored it, turning his attention back to the scared eyes of the girl in his lap.

"You came for me," she whispered in quiet amazement, reaching up to stroke the dirt and tears from his cheek.

"Of course I did," he choked out. She gave a tired smile, blinking slowly.

"She said all I'd have to do was hold that locket and think of you, and you'd come for me." She sighed contentedly. "I didn't believe her, but you're here." Victoria opened her eyes and met his gaze. Her smile wavered.

"What is it?" he asked concerned.

"She said, just before you got here, that she had a message…" She trailed off uncertainly, rubbing absently at the rip in her shirt where the knife had gone in. "But it doesn't make sense."

"What did she say?" Harry asked, a feeling of dread rising in his chest.

"She said 'When it happens, tell Harry that he's the one that will have to stop you from killing him.'"

As soon as the last word left her mouth, a ripple of magic spread across the room, the walls trembling, growing rapidly to seal the door and the single high window. Harry pushed himself to his feet, gently helping Victoria to stand as he stared around the room in mounting fear.

"What did she mean, Harry?" demanded the frightened girl, her voice taking on a near hysterical tone, "What did she mean about stopping me from killing you?"

A second spell was triggered and the disembodied head of Bellatrix appeared in the room "So sorry I had to run! I do wish I had been able to stay and watch the show," Victoria gasped and clutched at Harry's arm as he grimly put himself between the cackling head of the witch and his girlfriend. "You see, that blade really is an impressive piece of work - you must promise to give it back to me one day! No wound will heal and every one will turn eventually, isn't it fantastic?!" She broke off to cackle insanely, "So you have a choice, my dear Harry! You can wait until she dies, and turns, and then kill that _tasty_ little girl all over again... or she can kill you and eat your bastard corpse." Bellatrix spat the last ten words with such ferocity and hatred that Harry took a step back, nearly knocking Victoria over, even as the spell faded.

"What did she mean, Harry?" The voice came out small and scared and Harry found himself struggling to meet Victoria's eyes as he turned to her, his eyes closed, focused on the touch of her hand, guiding his magic back into her body, racing through muscle, bone, tissue, back up her arm and to her chest and with mounting horror, realised that Bellatrix had been right. The wounds he had healed were breaking apart again. He pressed his hand against her breastbone, feeling the slowly weakening beat of her heart that broke apart faster than he could repair it. He pushed more magic in, then more, then yet more, then… there was nothing left.

Harry gasped with the feeling of emptiness as the last of his magic drained out of him and into Victoria, sinking to his knees in exhaustion and defeat, tears seeping from eyes clenched shut. A gentle hand cupped his cheek and forced him to look up at her.

"What did she mean?" she asked softly, scared but determined none-the-less.

"I can't save you." His voice cracked and he met her gaze for a moment before turning his head away from her in shame. She sank to her knees as well, once again pulling his face towards her, kissing him softly on the lips and resting her forehead against his, tasting the salty tears that flowed freely down both their cheeks.

Their eyes met and she smiled tearfully at him even as her eyelids began to droop, the blood pumping out into her chest cavity, flowing freely where it shouldn't, dark circles appearing under her eyes, cheeks losing their colour. Victoria was tired. So tired. She leaned forwards, resting her head on Harry's shoulder as his arm wrapped around her, holding her up. It didn't matter. He had come for her. All she really wanted to do was close her eyes and rest for a while anyway.

"S'ok," she whispered softly. Then, so quietly it could barely be heard, "Love you Harry."

He sniffed, not taking his arms from around her to wipe the tears as he pulled her tighter into his embrace, trying to hold the life in her body through the strength of his embrace. "Love you too, Vic," he choked out. There was a quiet sigh from the girl in his arms, and he felt her lips twitch in a faint smile before her body went painfully still.

* * *

With a grunt, Dumbledore pushed himself to his feet, staring at the scene of utter devastation around him. Small fires still burned, though with a small sigh of relief, he was able to determine that the Fiendfyre had indeed been extinguished. He staggered towards the house, standing a relatively undamaged island amidst a sea of burning tree-stumps and smouldering grass.

He was thankful that the wards were down as he felt on the verge of collapse after battling Harry's magical construct, such was the power that the boy had pushed into the summoning. He straightened as he saw the two constrained figures, the fire-light from outside reflecting off the bonds, flinching inwardly at the viciousness of the curse that had been used to contain them.

"Where is he?" he demanded. Dumbledore always found it surprising that with the right tone of voice and the correct appearance, most people will tell you anything. They stopped their futile struggles and he felt a twinge of recognition of the two people before him, twins who had left Hogwarts to almost immediately join with Voldemort, escaping a sentence in Azkaban by some unknown method as so many had amidst the chaos of the aftermath of the last war.

They glanced at each other nervously from their positions of vulnerability. Amycus' eyes flickered towards the door on the far wall and Dumbledore moved towards it. He hesitated before moving through, leaving them to their bonds. Yes it was despicable, but he didn't have time to waste for their comfort. There was a loud, worryingly close _Crack!_ and any hesitation Dumbledore had felt faded as he increased his pace, striding towards the source of the noise.

Through the ruin of one door, a flight of stairs down… brickwork. Not brickwork. The masonry began to retreat, revealing a door. A quick detection spell revealed no further enchantments and he went through, his pulse pounding in his ears as he dared to hope.

"Harry?" he tried tentatively from the doorway. There was no answer from the huddled shape on the floor but he could taste that same, vile tang in the air he had noticed in the house where he had first caught up with the boy, a taint that whispered the promise of dark and powerful secrets common only to the darkest and most vile magic. A swift, wordless light spell bathed the room with a soft glow even as he cast another detection spell on the room, finding the source of the feeling of wrongness. He bound and encased the knife, summoning it and guiding it into a conjured bag, careful not to touch it.

"Harry, we must go," he insisted, a sense of urgency in his voice. "This knife, it turns its victims, she could change at any minute…" Dumbledore trailed off as he noticed the Muggle pistol lying next to the young couple. Harry's soot and tear streaked face turned towards him, eyes hollow and broken, sparing the old man the briefest of looks before returning to the face of the girl cradled gently in his arms as he tenderly brushed a stray strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear.

"She already did."


	18. Chapter 18

**Very Early Saturday Morning**

Harry stared at the starched white curtains that surrounded his bed. It was silly really. He didn't feel sick, he felt fine, at least physically. Better than fine, in fact, apart from the heavy weight inside of him that had just started to ease after Isaac's death at the start of summer that had returned with a vengeance. It was still dark outside, but the muted light of the candles cast shadows that danced on the far side of the curtains, speaking in hushed voices so as not to wake him.

_As if I could sleep!_ he thought bitterly.

"What do they say, Poppy?" the tall shadow asked the shorter, dumpy one in a tired and croaky voice. _That'd be Dumbledore then, still feeling the throat burn from the smoke._

"I… I don't really know," came the hesitant reply of the medi-witch.

"Guess," came a very familiar voice. Anyone who didn't know the man would assume he was calm. Harry knew better. Arcturus was absolutely furious. Madam Pomfrey huffed at being asked to base an opinion on something less than fact.

"Guess?" she hissed incredulously. "Fine, the amount of power that boy took into himself should have been enough to kill him six times over. I would_ guess_," she stressed the word with an angry whisper, "that because he instantly conjured fire and continued pumping magic into it that the energy of wards went straight through him and he acted as a conduit for most of the power and not a vessel. I have no idea what the long term effects will be and quite frankly, I wouldn't even know where to start." She finished primly and the silhouette of Arcturus gave an angry grunt before turning away from her. Another shape placed a comforting hand on his shoulder that was irritably shrugged off as Lord Arcturus Black stepped around the curtain, ignoring the protests of Madam Pomfrey who demanded rest for her patient.

Their eyes met, his dark grey ones filled with worry and concern, his grief-ridden and dull green as they stared back at him. Arcturus' carefully maintained veneer of calm melted into sympathy and regret and he strode across to take Harry's hand gently in his own.

"You're awake. How are you feeling?" There was a quiet burble of excitement from the others and the curtains were pulled back to reveal none other than Harry's Head of House, who stood watching with a still fire damaged Dumbledore and an irritated school nurse. Harry looked from one to the next, eventually coming back to his great-grandfather. He gave a helpless shrug, saying nothing as tears once again began trickling down his cheeks. "Leave us."

"Really, Lord Black - " began Madam Pomfrey, already annoyed at the demand that she guess at a diagnoses and further angered at his presumption to order her around in her own hospital wing.

"Now!" Arcturus snapped, cutting her off before she could even begin. Dumbledore, recognising that antagonising this particular Lord could result in the withdrawal of Harry from Hogwarts after such a debacle, carefully guided her out as he tried to soothe her battered ego. McGonagall cast a concerned look at them both before following them out and closing the door.

"You - " Harry's cracked and broken voice was cut short by Arcturus' raised hand and he watched as the Black patriarch cast a privacy ward before turning back to him and giving him a nod to continue. Harry cleared his throat, his voice coming out calm and measured. "When you found us, you asked us to get Bellatrix treatment if we could." Arcturus' sad eyes met Harry's determined ones and he nodded slowly, guessing where this was going. "There's only one cure for her kind of madness." With a sigh, Arcturus nodded again. They sat in quiet for a moment before Harry sniffled, angrily wiping at his eyes. "Where's Sirius?"

"On a mission," he growled out, frowning irritably. "I sent word directly to his boss at the Ministry, but apparently he is not in the country and sending a Patronus to him would potentially jeopardise his mission." He ran a hand through hair that was fading from grey to white and Harry began to appreciate just how old Lord Black really was. "Remus is, ah, _indisposed_," he waved a hand towards the window to indicate the full moon, "He should be back with us by Monday afternoon, so I'm afraid all you're left with is me."

There was a long pause as Arcturus tried to work out what to say to the forlorn young man before him. "Would you like me to take you home?" he asked gently, "A few days of bed rest wi -"

"I don't need bed rest!" Harry muttered a little harshly, cutting him off and they lapsed back into silence. "My training," he began after careful consideration, meeting Arcturus' level gaze, "We need to step it up a notch."

Arcturus agreed with a slow nod. "Yes," he began cautiously, "but not yet." He raised a hand to forestall any protests. "We need to determine the effects of you channeling so much magical energy through your body. You also need some time to recover from the magical exhaustion as well."

Harry gave him a questioning look and Arcturus began to explain slowly, "Harry, when Dumbledore bought you back, you were magically drained. You'd tried to put all your magic into Victoria, trying to save her and left yourself empty. It takes time to recover from something like that."

"I feel fine," Harry insisted, ignoring the ache in his chest that he knew had nothing to do with what his grandfather was talking about. Arcturus frowned at him, knowing he was lying, and Harry glared back at him. "You know what I mean. I've felt drained after a session with Mr. Smith before. I'm not drained and definitely not exhausted." His grandfather gazed contemplatively back at him, stroking the carefully trimmed beard.

"Hmm. Close your eyes." Harry sighed but did as he was told as Arcturus' voice softened, becoming almost melodic. "Focus on your core, just like for Occlumency… try to see the well of magic that you draw from when you're casting and tell me what it feels like - different, the same, more, less…"

His grandfather's voice trailed off as Harry turned his attention inwards, seeking that golden ball that swelled inside him, singing at its release, desperately trying to ignore the hurt and pain he felt at Vicky's passing. It wasn't there. Instead, it had been replaced with something… more. It had been harder to find, but only because Harry was used to looking for it like a particular tree in a small copse, his magic like another limb, to be flexed and exercised just like his arms or legs. Now it was more like it was the whole forest - he couldn't see it because it was all of him, intertwined with every hair, infused in every cell. The magic itself was different too; before it had been a glowing, happy, yellow and red of warmth. Now it was an angry, roiling, torrent that bucked and begged for release, the yellow-red of old still there, now augmented by another, equally thick current of gold and white that seemed to flex and stretch against the confines of Harry's too small body. Intertwined between the two of them as if binding them together was another smaller, though just as current of vivid green and red. Where the gold and white seemed to speak of power in the same way as violent rapids did, this one seemed no less powerful though seeming more a deep running smooth surfaced river that spoke of force to be carefully channeled and contained. Where the colours met, they seemed to merge together, his own gold being augmented by the new, just as the red did, the green and white twisting throughout them all like strands of a hemp rope.

Harry's eyes snapped open with a gasp of surprise.

"What is it?"

"It's… It's different." He waved his hands, trying to explain. "Not empty, but bigger than before, more… more of _me_ is in it. And it seems… angry." He finished, for want a better description.

Arcturus leaned back in his chair, examining Harry curiously. After a moment's consideration, he waved at the wand on the bed-side counter and Harry picked up eleven inches of holly and Phoenix feather, pausing for a moment before casting one of the first spells he had learned, carefully enunciating and ensuring he made the precise wand movements. "_Lumos_!"

The light was blinding, flaring bright enough to leave purple spots floating behind their eyelids as Harry pulled back on the magic flowing down his arm and out of the wand, reducing it to normal levels. Even then, something was off. The colouring was different too, somehow less electrical torch-like and more like the dancing of barely contained flames as if he were holding a burning brand aloft to illuminate the room.

"Well, that was interesting," Arcturus observed softly, as Harry cancelled the charm just as the doors to the hospital wing burst open, the rotund matron of the school striding towards them, screaming impotently at the two Blacks from the other side of the erected privacy bubble, Dumbledore and McGonagall not far behind her. Arcturus waited until the witch was almost upon them before cancelling his own spell.

"I'm sorry, Madam Pomfrey," he said insincerely to the nurse, "you'll have to start again, we weren't listening."

"Why, I…" she blustered, "In all my years here, I have never seen anything so reckless! Having a boy who has just suffered magical exhaustion cast a spell?! What were you thinking?"

"That I'm no longer magically exhausted," Harry said quietly, redirecting her attention away from Arcturus and back to him.

"Mr Potter, that simply isn't possible," she said dismissively, even as Dumbledore's tired eyes sparked with interest, "You were completely drained when the Headmaster brought you back here! Why, you shouldn't even be awake yet!"

"Cast your spells them, Madam," he said quietly. With a grumble, she complied, casting a diagnostic charm that caused the results to appear on the clipboard at the foot of his bed. She scowled at it and cast it again. And then a third time.

"That… That's just not possible," she muttered, staring at the parchment in growing confusion. Dumbledore prised it from her fingers and scanned through it, his eyes widening in surprise before passing it to McGonagall, only to have it intercepted by Arcturus, who ignored her scowls and leaned forwards so Harry could see it as well.

Harry turned to the nurse. "What does it mean?" Her mouth opened and closed without a noise escaping, confusion clear on her face.

"It means," Dumbledore began slowly, stroking his hands through his beard as he stared thoughtfully at the wall above Harry's bed, "that you aren't magically exhausted." Arcturus snorted as he finished reading the chart.

"It means absolutely nothing," Arcturus said quietly, ignoring Minerva's extended hand for the chart. "Headmaster, may I suggest that we immediately consider limiting the possible spread of this knowledge?"

"What do you mean?" asked Pomfrey, even as Dumbledore nodded tiredly, his wand sliding into his hand. The nurse slumped to the floor as his Stunner hit her in the side.

"Dammit, Albus!" cried McGonagall in outrage.

"What?" he snapped back at his Deputy. "Poppy is an excellent medi-witch, but the risk of this information spreading to anyone else is too great and we both know that after a couple of sherries, she'll tell anyone anything." She closed her mouth, glaring back at him.

"You could at least have caught her as she fell!" the Transfiguration Professor snarked, before turning an evil glare towards the Headmaster. "If you so much as think of altering my memory, you will be looking for a new Deputy Headmistress! And you!" She whirled on Arcturus. "I'll bite your shrivelled - "

"No one is going to obliviate you, Minerva," soothed Dumbledore before she could finish the threat.

"Unless you refuse to take a vow of secrecy, of course," Arcturus added, his wand held loose and ready in his hand. She glared back at him for a long moment before giving a jerky nod.

"For his sake," she muttered bitterly, waving towards a still confused Harry, "Not for either of you two."

"Great, we've got that sorted, now what the hell does this mean?" snapped Harry, waving the clipboard. McGonagall held her hand out and the two older men waited patiently for her to finish reading it before all three exchanged a wary look.

Arcturus shrugged awkwardly. "We don't know," he admitted, taking the clipboard back from McGonagall and pointing to a line that had a timestamp next to it of the time just after Dumbledore had bought Harry into the hospital wing. "This shows your magical core when you first arrived," he explained, "It's nearly empty, but perfectly normal with the exception of being very close to exhausted." He moved on to the more recently cast results. "These each show the state of your core: size here, how full it is here. The rest of the figures deal with the magical health of the core, strength and stamina, that sort of thing."

Each of the recent spells showed a different capacity reading all of them showing to be full or nearly full. Harry turned confused eyes up to his grandfather and teachers. "But… what does it mean?" He was beginning to feel annoyed at the lack of information he was getting. "This chart shows that I have four cores, all of them nearly full."

"We're not trying to be vague, Harry," McGonagall said gently, "We really don't know what this means. To my knowledge, this has never happened before… Headmaster?" Dumbledore shook his head, his curious gaze still firmly fixed on Harry. She turned to Arcturus, who was looking thoughtfully at his hands clasped gently around one of Harry's.

"I think…" He trailed off. "I might know someone who may be able to tell us a bit more about this. Possibly." He met the curious gazes of the other three and rubbed a hand over tired eyes. "It will require me to be away for a while. A week at least, maybe longer." He glanced at Harry, and only those who knew him well would have been able to see the extra crease in his forehead that showed how concerned he truly was.

"I'll be fine," the boy stated, his voice quiet and flat. The screaming emotions within him begged to differ, but he kept his face ruthlessly calm as he met Arcturus' eyes. Eventually, the old man sighed and nodded.

"I will send Remus as soon as he is well enough, and a group from Higgins will be with you within the hour."

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that," stated Dumbledore calmly. Arcturus looked as if he was about to argue when Harry stepped in.

"The magicals are on a job," the boy pointed out bitterly, "I went there first. Only the normals and squibs are left." His grandfather cursed quietly but profusely, switching between several languages as he ran out of invectives to describe their poor timing.

"Still, I would like someone to watch over you, at least for the rest of the weekend," Arcturus countered, still clearly irritated.

"I'm afraid that I must protest again – As I said when we first discussed bringing Harry herre, there will be no personal protection details within the school." Dumbledore might as well not have spoken for all the attention he was being paid by Arcturus and Harry.

"Why don't we get you away, for today and tomorrow? It will take me some time to prepare for my investigations and I will not be leaving until late Sunday evening, so I can keep you company until then," offered his great-grandfather. Harry thought about it for a moment before sighing and nodding, idly thinking through the list of Black and Potter family properties before reaching the conclusion that he really didn't care that much at the moment, though knowing he wanted to avoid the inevitable questioning he would face when he returned.

"Really," interjected McGonagall, trying hard not to let herself be sidelined in the conversation in the fear that it would lead to her own memory modification, "I can't think of anywhere that provides the same level of protection as Hogwarts. And besides, all of Harry's friends are here."

"Indeed," agreed Dumbledore, desperate not to let Harry out of his sight – the boy was vulnerable now and this time of trauma was going to be perfect for him to insert himself as a key figure into Harry's life, but that would only work if the boy remained at Hogwarts. "We must all agree that Harry's safety is paramount here."

There was a moment of silence as everyone nodded their agreement before Arcturus looked up at Harry. "There is one place which has wards to rival Hogwarts. And we could also get some of the mercenaries Harry has known for a lot longer than three weeks – they may not be magical, but they do know how to deal with grief and many of them look on you as a younger brother," he added, directing the last part at Harry, whose carefully controlled face threatened to crack any moment. A flicker of recognition sparked behind his eyes.

"You mean Grimmauld Place?" Arcturus nodded slowly.

"I will speak with Kreacher and make sure he is on his best behaviour."

"I'm afraid I must insist that Harry remains here," Dumbledore tried again. "He needs to be present for the Auror investigation - "

"They can reach us at Grimmauld Place and I would not permit any questioning of my great-grandson, a minor and ward of my House, without my presence and the presence of a legal representative anyway." Arcturus interrupted the Headmaster mid-flow before pinning him with an icy glare, "Besides, must I remind you of your initial agreement with us prior to the beginning of Harry's Hogwarts education?"

Dumbledore's mouth opened as if to protest before he closed it again with a sigh and nodded his agreement.

"Well, in that case..." Arcturus stood, turning to Dumbledore and imperiously extending his hand, his expression grim. The Headmaster sported a tired but bemused smile before grasping the Black patriarch's hand in his own. "Do you, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, swear on your life, your honour and your magic, not disclose to any persons or party, the information you have learned here today about my great-grandson, Harry James Black-Potter, and to protect both this information and him with your very life and soul if necessary?

After an awkward and unnecessarily long pause, Dumbledore gave the hand a small but firm shake. "I do."

The binding magic shot from Harry's wand - his stoic masking of his grief also served to cover his surprise at the flashing thread of shifting magic, mostly red and golds but with flecks of green and white that mimicked his core, flashing out to encircle their joined hands before moulding to their skin and streaking up their arms, binding around their own magical cores. Both the men being bound were more used to hiding their emotions, but both their faces showed the shock they felt as the power of the bond was discovered.

Arcturus recovered first, turning to McGonagall. She took his hand as he repeated the oath, unable to restrain the small cry as she felt the bond latch to her core and become a part of her.

"Very well then." Before either Headmaster or his Deputy had recovered, Arcturus leant forwards to the unconscious form of Poppy Pomfrey, pulling her eyelids gently open and levelling his wand at her temple. "Obliviate!" he whispered, removing her memory of casting the diagnostic charms on Harry's core. He glanced up to Dumbledore and McGonagall. "She remembers Harry being brought in, physically exhausted. She doesn't know why but will be happy to release him into my custody when she wakes. I will leave the mild compulsion discouraging her from casting any further spells to determine Harry's core strength to you, Headmaster." He eyed the older wizard challengingly.

Dumbledore frowned, more annoyed at being forced into manipulating his staff than the actual requirement to do it but gave a curt nod, casting the required spell before Enervating the nurse and helping her to her feet as Arcturus discretely removed the original core test results from the clipboard and replacing them with a much more normal set that showed Harry as tired, but otherwise physically in good shape.

"Sorry, sorry," apologised the nurse, wondering what had just happened to her. She looked around confused for a moment. "Where were we?" she tried hopefully.

"You were just about to release my great-grandson to my care to recover in the comfort and safety of his own home," Arcturus replied sternly.

"Oh..." She looked over the notes, confusion clear on her face. "Yes, I suppose I was," she mumbled to herself as she flicked through them before turning a stern but sympathetic gaze towards Harry, "Now listen here - you came very close to magically exhausting yourself - take it easy for the rest of the weekend. Plenty of bedrest, that's the best thing for you now."

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey," Harry muttered in agreement before bowing his head respectfully to the older matron. "Thank you for taking care of me."

With a stern nod and a small smile, the nurse bustled off to her personal study, leaving Arcturus to help Harry out of the comfortable hospital bed and into the robe delivered by one of the castle elves. The boy glanced around, looking for something. "Where's my armour and weapons? And my spare wand?" All focus turned back towards the Headmaster, who gave his best grandfatherly smile.

"I'm afraid those very dangerous articles had to be confiscated - I will see them delivered to the Higgins Cottage in Hogsmeade post-haste, but I cannot allow you to keep them within the school." Harry shrugged, pocketing his holly and Phoenix feather wand before turning to Arcturus, who simply scowled in response to the unwarranted confiscation of private property but said nothing as he handed Harry his glasses.

Harry looked at them in confusion before putting them on, squinting and then taking them off. He looked around before putting them back on and squinting again. He shrugged and took them off.

"Something wrong?" Asked Minerva, her concern clear on her voice. Harry tossed them carelessly back onto the bed he had been occupying.

"Looks like I don't need glasses any more." He replied tiredly before following Arcturus from the hospital wing, grateful that it was still too early for any of the other students to be up and about as they left the school and Apparated away to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.

* * *

Watching them go, Dumbledore shook his head sadly. He stopped Minerva's question with a raised hand, motioning for her to follow him to his office. The two Professors quietly and swiftly navigated the empty corridors of the castle until they arrived at the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance, rode the moving staircase to the top and entered the Headmaster's office. Dumbledore marched over to his throne-like chair before slumping tiredly down behind his desk. He idly motioned for his Deputy Headmistress to make herself comfortable in one of the chairs. Minerva sat down as she observed the old wizard rub his eyes and realised that she very rarely saw him actually display his advanced age, the burned off eyebrows, scorch marks on his robes and whiff of smoke that was almost overpowering to her Animagus-enhanced sense of smell doing nothing to help project the image of surety and power that he normally managed.

"Do you think that might cause some problems for the boy in the future?" she asked quietly, keeping her voice low enough to avoid disturbing the paintings and the slumbering Sorting Hat. While the paintings tended to be up at all hours anyway, McGonagall had learned the hard way that waking up the Hat was a very bad idea.

"Hmm?" Dumbledore replied distractedly, "Oh, the strange core readings? Yes, possibly." He ran his fingers through his beard, unwrapping a lemon drop and popping it into his mouth as he tried to recall the exact wording of the prophecy he had heard about the young boy so many years ago… _Something about the power the Dark Lord knows not?_ He mused, vowing to revisit his memory of Trewlany's vision.

"What is it, Albus?" His blue eyes lacked their customary twinkle as he turned his gaze towards his Deputy and gave a heavy sigh.

"The boy summoned Fiendfyre, Minerva," he said, answering with only part of what had been worrying him. "What thirteen year old boy can do that?" he asked, praying that there was an answer that would make sense.

"Surely it was just the power of the wards that needed a release?" she asked nervously. "Could it have been…" she shrugged helplessly, "I don't know, an accidental enhancement of the fire because of the power he had in his body at the time."

Dumbledore thought for a moment before giving a small nod. "That is a possibility," he conceded, "I will show you the memory in a moment so that you can reach your own conclusion. But there is also the curse he used against the Carrows that can be considered almost dark." McGonagall grimaced as if she didn't particularly care for the damage that had been inflicted on the two ex-students who were now recovering in prison cells at the ministry. "And I dread to think what sort of man will be created from having to… do what he did," he finished lamely, unwilling to put his inner thoughts into words.

"You think he will go dark?" The concern was clear on her face. Dumbledore thought about it for a moment before shrugging helplessly.

"Who can tell? All I know is that we must keep a very close eye on the boy over the coming months," Albus said tiredly. "If we can push him towards a family allied with our cause, I think that would help. He's friendly with the Weasleys, is he not?" McGonagall frowned but nodded, thinking of the chaos that Harry and the twins could cause together, feeling a twinge of shame at the tiny part of her that was grateful he would have his mind on something other than pranking the entire school for at least a week.

"Yes," continued Dumbledore distractedly, "Let's encourage Ron and Harry's friendship and… can we set him up with their daughter? He is single now."

The headmaster looked up at the gasp of shock that came from McGonagall. "Too soon?" he asked. She nodded dumbly in reply, her mouth hanging open in shock at his sheer audacity at suggesting such a thing when Harry's previous girlfriend hadn't been dead for longer than a few hours. "Yes, I suppose it is," he conceded after a moments thought, before frowning at his deputy.

"Oh, do close your mouth, Minerva - " he snapped. Her jaw clicked closed just as he started speaking and before he could finish his rebuttal. "Dammit." He muttered to himself in frustration at having missed the punchline.

* * *

**Grimmauld Place, later that morning**

It was almost midday when there was a series of knocks at the door of the Black family residence in London. Harry and Arcturus had arrived shortly after three in the morning and the younger wizard had tried to get some sleep but failed miserably. After two hours, he had given up, resorting to ensconcing himself in the library and reading further through the book on Animagus magic Sirius had given him though finding he had to re-read each page several times before it even started making sense. At his great-grandfather's insistence, he had tried eating breakfast and would no doubt be forced into at least picking at whatever fare Kreacher prepared for them at lunch. Remus had appeared shortly after breakfast looking terrible, as was standard for the period around the full moon, given him a hug and offering platitudes that barely registered on the still shocked young boy.

Harry checked the enchanted panel on the wall next to the door, revealing two figures in official Auror robes, one being a tall, dark skinned man and the other a pink-haired younger woman, both of whom looked vaguely familiar.

"Please hold up your Ministry identification badges against the seal on the door," he intoned, his words being relayed through the ward schemes. The house's protections wouldn't let in anyone who intended harm to a member of the family but there was no such thing as being too careful. Two Auror badges were produced and verified to be legitimate by the identification spells. He allowed Ian Coffer, one of the HSG team member that Arcturus had recruited and brought with them, to nudge him gently to one side as he opened the door.

Despite himself, Shacklebolt took a step back at coming face to chest with the nearly-giant man who stood an inch shy of seven feet tall and was built heavier than most tanks. The dark skinned Auror, recovering surprisingly quickly, nodded a greeting at the mercenary who eyed him suspiciously.

"Good morning. I'm - "

"Kingsley Shacklebolt," Harry cut him off, calling their attention to his position just behind the hard faced mercenary. "I remember. I remember you as well, Nymphadora; in fact, I believe we are cousins through adoption. Please come in." He waved for them to come in. "This is Ian Coffer, one of our security detail. Arcturus and Remus are in the sitting room, first door on the right."

"Actually, Harry, I prefer just Tonks, if that's alright," the pink haired girl corrected over her shoulder as she made her way in, smirking at the muffled shrieks coming from behind the curtains drawn over one of the portraits in the hall. She tripped suddenly, cursing as her foot connected with an umbrella stand made from a troll's foot. She stumbled and would have fallen had not Harry caught her with surprising speed and strength. She smiled at him as he let go of her arm, nervously rubbing the bruise she could already feel forming from his grip. "Thanks."

He nodded, face remaining neutral. "You're welcome, Tonks." She watched him as he walked past her, intrigued and worried for the new member of the Black family who was technically her cousin as he showed them into the room where three men and two women were waiting for them.

"Grandfather," began Harry formally, "Aurors Shacklebolt and Tonks. Aurors, my great-grandfather Lord Arcturus Black, Remus Lupin and our legal advisor, Miss Sinead O'Driscoll, of O'Driscoll, O'Driscoll and Smith." Tonks' eyes widened a little at the mention of one of the longest standing legal firms in magical Britain. It was rumoured to have been set up by an Irish Vampire in the late Nineteenth Century who continued to practice today, though she doubted that the stern, beautiful, red-haired witch before her, who looked to be in her mid-thirties, was that particular O'Driscoll. "And Darren Carter and Alice Kettering, also of the Higgins Security Group." The grim faced pair in matching dark suits stood at the back of the room, watching their surroundings with sharp eyes, bulges indicating the weapons at their hips and under their arms.

"Lord Black," Shacklebolt began, nodding respectfully to the aristocrat, "Harry, Mr. Lupin. First, Harry, let me express my sincere condolences for your loss. We have been sparing no effort in our attempts to hunt down Pettigrew and Lestrange, but as yet our searches have been fruitless - "

"And because of your incompetence, my girlfriend is dead, along with her family and Merlin only knows how many others," interrupted Harry bitterly. "Tell me, Auror Shacklebolt, how many more innocent people will die before you catch them? Or do they not count because they were Muggles?"

"Harry," chastised Lord Black gently, "They are just doing their job - Ah!" he raised a stern hand, stopping any further outburst before turning to the shocked Aurors, "Please forgive my great-grandson, he is understandably upset. Perhaps viewing his memory of the evening would be a good place to start, and give Harry time to compose himself." They nodded slowly, casting glances between the angry boy, the calm Lord and the emotionally exhausted Werewolf.

"Before we begin, my Lord," began Miss O'Driscoll, her voice lilting with a soft Irish accent, "Nymphadora - "

"She prefers Tonks," Harry corrected tiredly, his anger vanishing as rapidly as it appeared, earning a smile from the young woman in response.

"Indeed - is this not a conflict of interest for you? Being involved in an investigation in which your family is involved?"

"They are estranged," explained Shacklebolt for his protegé, prompting a brief flicker of emotion across Lord Black's face. "Madam Bones is also aware of the potential conflict - She and I are content for Miss Tonks to be part of the investigation if you are?" Miss O'Driscoll glanced at Arcturus for clarification and received a small nod of acceptance.

"Shall we?" Arcturus waved towards the large, ornate pensieve that Kingsley estimated would probably cost him about five years of his current salary, and they took positions around it as Harry concentrated, pulling a long strand of silver from his temple with his wand and depositing it in the bowl before stepping back.

"Are you not joining us, Harry?" asked Kingsley curiously. The normal procedure for this was for the memory owner to talk the Aurors through the events, answering any questions that they might have as they went.

"No," he answered vehemently, adding after a moment in a much softer voice, "I have no desire to see any of that again."

"Miss O'Driscoll or I will answer what questions there may be in the memory," Arcturus interjected, "Any further questions can be answered by Harry when we are finished."

Tonks cast another concerned look at the back of the boy retreating towards the kitchen, catching the eye of Remus as he noticed the direction of her gaze before motioning for her to enter the pensieve first.

Tonks and Shacklebolt each pressed the runes on their badges that would record the memory for inclusion in their investigation as the five of them began the memory in Harry's detention, all of them receiving a slightly blurred picture of Victoria Hastings being confronted by Bellatrix in her living room as they received the same image that Harry had, Arcturus explaining the nature of the locket that Harry had given to Victoria, with Sinead's input assuring them that it was within the law to do so. They followed his flight to the dorm rooms and his conversation with Remus via the mirror.

"And what did you do at this point?" asked Shacklebolt as they watched Harry donning his armour.

"Sent a Patronus immediately to Lord Black - I had hoped to have time to contact Sirius' boss at the Ministry as well, but unfortunately my… condition - "

"Mr Lupin is a registered Werewolf, compliant with current legislation and bonded to the House of Black," Miss O'Driscoll supplied smoothly "each full moon he takes Wolfsbane potion and retreats to one of the Black properties on an island off Scotland which is evacuated for this express purpose."

"Thank you. As I was saying, my condition came into effect and I was unable to do anything else until this morning when I learned that Sirius will be indisposed for at least the first half of this week," finished Remus.

"I see. And why does Harry have such clothing and equipment in his possession while he is at Hogwarts?" Tonks was eyeing the dragonhide armour enviously, knowing that she could never even dream of owning something that would probably cost her more than a thousand Galleons.

"The Higgins Security Group, some of which you have just met, seem to have taken a shining to him, seeing him as something of a younger brother." Arcturus began, "They are also a little concerned - justifiably so - for his safety, sending him to school with what you see before you. I had asked him to send back anything that was particularly dangerous, but I am assuming he hadn't yet gotten around to it."

They gasped as Harry drew the Goblin's steel sword and held it to Percy Weasley's throat before demanding the Time-Turner from Hermione. "I would like to point out my client's obvious distressed state at this point," interjected Miss O'Driscoll smoothly, "and also draw attention to the fact that he did not harm either Mr. Weasley or Miss Granger, whose Time-Turner was returned to Professor Dumbledore."

Arcturus was able to fast-forward through the memory to the moment Harry arrived at the Hastings property. "We now know that the neighbours called the police," input Shacklebolt, "They heard screams from next door and then two loud pops, which we were able to identify as the sound of the suspects Apparating and port-keying away from the scene."

Despite having visited the Hastings home already, Tonks felt a rising feeling of dread and her hair turned black and lank as the memory changed. She watched as Harry approached the house, surprised at his graceful and professional approach as he entered the unknown environment. The feeling of discomfort increased as she watched memory-Harry sprawl across the floor and emptied the contents of his stomach before standing shakily and entering what could best be described as an abattoir. Both Shacklebolt and Tonks had seen the crime scene this morning when the blood had dried and congealed and the entire building had been subjected to air-freshening charms, both believing themselves to be prepared for what they would see ahead of them and yet the reality was something else entirely.

"My word…" muttered Kingsley, his professionalism failing as he took in the scene before him and Tonks swallowed down a mouthful of bile. Somehow the memory imparted something more to the scene before them, tinged with the emotional attachment that Harry had felt for the people who had lived there. Shacklebolt had Arcturus pause the memory as he took notes, directing Tonks to use a modified wizarding camera and take images of the carnage around them that could be compared to the ones from the actual crime scene later on.

As soon as the memory began again, they received another image of a terrified Victoria facing Peter Pettigrew, prompting a growl of anger from a till-now silent Remus Lupin. They relocated with Dumbledore's Apparition, Shacklebolt and Tonks quickly identifying the cottage they had been called to that morning as it had been up until last night. Arcturus identified the shambling corpse of Diana Hastings for them all as it appeared and they were treated to another image of Victoria facing off against Bellatrix as the young girl held to her necklace and pleaded for mercy, for a rescue, for anything to wake her from the nightmare that she had found herself in.

Tonks found her heart pounding as her anxiety rose and could see the rest of the audience responding in a similar fashion, with the exception of Lord Arcturus Black and Miss O'Driscoll, both of whom continued to watch the entire encounter with very grim expressions. Despite knowing the outcome, she couldn't help but pray and hope that Harry made it in time.

And then it happened. The spell shot from Harry's wand towards the ward scheme around the cottage and power began to force its way into the boy. Even in his own memory they couldn't hear his screams over the sound of the flames that seemed to consume everything. They watched as it changed, becoming a Fiendfyre snake that curled around the house before rearing in front of them, while Albus Dumbledore, considered by many to be the greatest wizard of their generation, stood by impotently, unable to reach the boy who was surrounded by raw magical energy and fire.

"I think the Unspeakables might want to have a look at this," Kingsley commented shakily and Arcturus grunted noncommittally, loathe to have any further investigation into his family. Tonks could only nod in agreement with her partner as Harry's memory pulled them at inhuman speeds into the house and through a ground floor window. She flinched as he bound the unconscious Carrows, casting a sly glance at Kingsley who seemed to shrug off the use of the questionable spell as Harry pushed on through the building.

Tonks felt a lump rise in her throat as Harry reached the basement in time to see Bellatrix stab his girlfriend before Disapparating, hoping against hope as he pulled the cursed knife from her chest and healed her, only for the final message from Bellatrix to appear and memory-Harry confirming it, trying again to save Victoria only to sink to his knees as he admitted defeat.

She glanced to her right, seeing Arcturus' usually well controlled face radiating sadness, tears streaming silently down Remus' cheeks as he watched his adoptive nephew try and fail to save his girlfriend. Even Kingsley seemed more grim faced than usual. The lawyer was showing the most emotional control of them all, frowning dispassionately down at the couple.

There was a skip and then Dumbledore was in the room. Tonks looked about confused. "What happened?" she asked.

"There was a piece missing from the memory," Kingsley said, turning an accusing gaze on Arcturus and Remus, even as the latter brushed tears from his eyes and faded from sight as he left the memory to find Harry.

Arcturus' control was back in an instant and he pierced Kingsley with an angry look. "Do you really need to see my thirteen year old great-grandson saying goodbye to his girlfriend before she becomes an Inferius and he shoots her in the head?" Shacklebolt rocked back on his feet, blinking as he realised the insensitivity of his words.

"Umm... No. No, I suppose I don't," he admitted, and Arcturus gave a grunt of approval, turning back to the memory as it played out memory-Harry's final quiet words to Dumbledore and then faded, sending them back into the living room.

When they looked around, Harry and Remus were nowhere to be seen. Arcturus shot an enquiring glance at one of the mercenaries, who pointed towards the stairs just as a short wail of grief drifted down to them.

"I think I will fetch Harry and Remus, then perhaps some lunch before we continue?" Shacklebolt nodded, glad to have a break from the investigation. Giving a tired smile and a heavy sigh, Arcturus headed for the stairs.

"Wait!" He turned back to look at Tonks in surprise. "Would you like me to go? As a cousin, not as an Auror." She clarified as she saw the lawyer and her boss about to protest. The old man paused in consideration before giving a grateful nod and Tonks made her way slowly up the stairs.

She found Remus and Harry in one of the bedrooms, arms wrapped around each other. "Sorry to interrupt," Tonks started, "We're done with the pensieve… Lord Black said we'd stop for some lunch and then carry on after. Did you want to take a moment?" Red-rimmed eyes stared back at her as Harry stood up and walked slowly towards the door, shaking his head. She put a hesitant hand on his shoulder and smiled sadly down at him. "I'm really sorry about your girlfriend, Harry."

He wiped his eyes again. "Thank you," he whispered quietly, heading towards the door.

As they followed him out, there was a scurrying, scratching noise. They turned and saw the elderly house-elf, Kreacher, glaring at them. "Bad enough bad Master brings Werewolf and Muggles into house - _pah!_" the elf spat in disgust, "Now bad Master's not-son brings in mongrels and filth." The Metamorphmagus' hair and cheeks turned red with anger and she opened her mouth to snap out an angry retort, pulling short as Harry spoke first.

"Kreacher," he began evenly, "come here." The elf scowled but crept forwards to where Harry had pointed in front of him. "You are aware that I am Sirius' heir, and will one day be head of House Black, at which point I can give you clothes or perhaps just have you fed to the dogs?"

The wrinkled elf's face twisted again, but he nodded and Harry continued in the same even tone, holding the little creature's eyes so that it could see his sincerity. "Good. Now, you will treat all guests of this house, regardless of what or who they are, with respect…" The scowl on Kreacher's face increased and Harry realized he wasn't getting anywhere. He let a little of the anger he had kept locked inside of himself since last night show on his face and bleed into his voice, his magic flaring and making the air feel almost too heavy to breathe. "Or I shall start cutting off bits of you and make you eat them." He snapped, shocking both Remus and Tonks with the hatred he put into his voice. In a flash, it was gone and the calm, collected Harry had returned. "Is that understood?" he asked the elf sweetly, who was now staring up at him with eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"Bad Master's not-son would really do that?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes," Harry confirmed with a grim nod. Tears started leaking from the eyes of the ancient, crazy elf and in a flash it was wrapped around Harry's leg.

"Oh! Bad Master's not-son is truly a good Master to threaten Kreacher so!" Tonks, Remus and Harry looked down at the weird little elf, eyes closed with bliss as it embraced the boy's calf. "The not-son will be truly a great Master! Kreacher will do as he says even if he is friends with stupid half-breeds and mongrel dog!" he added the last part with a glare at Tonks and Remus, as Harry began shaking his leg to try and escape the unwanted clutches. "Please, bad Master's not-son, tell Kreacher to go shut his fingers in the oven! Tell Kreacher to go iron his ears!" He looked up beseechingly as he begged Harry to punish him.

"No, you little vermin!" Harry protested, "Get off me, you psycho twit!" With one final, forceful shake of his leg, Harry shook the elf free, launching it down the hall to bounce off the wall and fall in a heap on the floor. Harry looked uncertainly at a bewildered Lupin and Tonks. "Do you think I killed it?" he asked, part of him concerned but another, larger part hopeful.

There was a shudder from the huddled shape and a whispered "Thank you!" as the elf pushed itself up, a broad smile now creasing it's face in place of the previous scowl before it disappeared with a pop.

"That thing is not normal," muttered Remus, giving Harry a push to get him moving towards the stairs.

* * *

Harry had been right. He barely managed a mouthful of the lunch that Kreacher had prepared before giving up and asking to be excused. Arcturus nodded, requesting only that he be available for further questions from the Aurors when the rest of them were done, and Harry headed into the sitting room.

He slumped in the chair by the fire, staring morosely into the unlit grate. He shuddered, trying to turn his mind to anything other than the events of the night before that continued to play in endless repeat whenever he closed his eyes. He turned his thoughts inwards, focusing on the magic that coiled and writhed inside of him he tried to reconcile himself with it, searching for the understanding and clarity that would apparently reveal his animal form.

His breathing deepened as he relaxed his muscles, sinking into the comfort of the chair and letting his head loll forwards. The magic seemed to calm, taming slightly as he fought for control over the emotions that had been surging within him all day, the colours becoming less defined and blurring into each other. With a twinge of surprise, Harry saw the currents twisting up, a shape starting to emerge…

And then the fire came. For the briefest fraction of a moment before he opened his eyes with a gasp and bolted upright, Harry was back in the middle of the inferno, flames dancing around him, flickering closer, the snap and crackle of the flames almost speaking to him in a language he felt he once knew but had since forgotten, calling out to him. He looked around the room, pulse pounding and breath coming in short gasps, trying to clear the part-remembered smell of smoke and sulphur.

"You alright, kid?" asked Darren, leaning casually against the doorframe, watching Harry with an odd combination of sympathy and curiosity. Harry gave a shuddering sigh, bringing his breathing under control and running a hand through unkempt hair as he looked up. He shrugged in response.

"Yeah, that's what I figured," Darren said quietly after a moment. "I'm going for a run later if you want to join. Usually helps me when I'm pissed at something."

Harry looked up at him in surprise, the normally sullen soldier rarely making much of an effort to involve himself with the Black family, preferring to keep himself involved in the operational side of the Higgins Group and away from the magic. The mercenary shrugged and turned to leave the room.

"Yes," called Harry to Darren's retreating back, "that'd be good, thank you."

Darren paused but didn't look back, just giving a nod and a grunt as he left the room just as Arcturus lead their guests back into the room.

"We just have a few more questions for you, if that's OK, Harry?" Shacklebolt asked gently. Harry looked back up at him and gave a weary nod as everyone began to take seats around the living room apart from Remus, who took a protective position at Harry's shoulder. "Okay. First off, can you tell me where you learned the Fiendfyre spell?"

"No." Tonks' eyebrows climbed towards her hairline as Harry flatly refused and everyone else seemed just as shocked.

"Harry," she began, thinking to explain to him how the spell was frowned upon and considered borderline Dark in many circles, only to be cut off by Sinead O'Driscoll.

"My client is under no obligation - " the lawyer was in turn interrupted by Harry.

"You misunderstand me, Auror Shacklebolt," clarified Harry, "I'm not refusing to tell you how I learned to cast it, I actually _can't_ tell you how I managed it."

"What do you mean?"

Harry paused, trying to put his casting into words while working on a memory that was still hazy from the adrenaline and the emotion of the previous night. "I didn't cast it," he began slowly, noticing the openly curious looks on his audience. "I had the power in me from the wards and I knew I had to get rid of it," he tried to explain, "and I knew I had to get in to…" his voice trailed off and he took a deep breath before continuing, "I knew I had to get in. So I pushed more power into the spell."

"You_ accidentally_ cast Fiendfyre?" asked Tonks incredulously.

"There is precedent," O'Driscoll stepped in smoothly, giving a smile that never reached her eyes at the skeptical looks she was getting. "Granted, not with Fiendfyre, but certainly with spells becoming overpowered or developing into something else when the caster is particularly emotional."

"Such as?" asked Kingsley, who was looking particularly dubious.

"Bell v. State, October 1980," she responded promptly, not even needing to check the details of the case. "A Mr. Sam Bell established that his wife was under the Imperius Curse and was going to kill their daughter. He cast an Expelliarmus that was so charged with emotion that it sent her flying from the balcony of their flat and the fall killed her."

"This is what you're saying?" he asked, keeping his voice as neutral as possible, receiving a nod from Harry in return. Kingsley tried to give the boy a reassuring smile even as his mind began racing and he continued, "Considering the amount of energy that was in those wards, even only partly charged, that's not a huge leap to make. Nor, as I'm sure Miss O'Driscoll will point out, is casting it illegal, though we do like to keep track of it. Your next spell though - we heard the incantation and again, it is not an illegal spell, but I must ask - where did you learn the _Catenas Morsus_ spell?"

Tonks noticed it was Remus that winced as the question was asked, while Harry merely gave a small frown. "If it is not illegal, why are you asking where I learned it?"

Shacklebolt was careful not to look in the direction of either Lord Black or Remus as he responded, "I'm asking because it makes me wonder how a thirteen year old boy comes to know what many would consider to be a Dark curse." The entire room went very still as all attention focused on the Senior Auror.

"Tell me, Auror Shacklebolt," Sinead began, her voice soft and somehow sounding incredibly dangerous, "are you here to establish the facts in the murder of multiple Muggles for their association with my client, which he did everything within his power to prevent at great personal risk, or are you here to cast aspersions on the capability of the Black family in raising their heir? I can assure you that they have at no point broken any law, and as you yourself have admitted, this knowledge and use of this spell is not illegal."

There was an awkward pause.

"Investigating the murders," clarified Kingsley slowly and grudgingly, "But - "

"And what relevance does the spells my client chose to cast have on your investigation?" Tonks was becoming increasingly nervous as she glanced between her direct supervisor and the lawyer, while everyone else kept their unreadable gazes focused on the Aurors.

"None," he admitted after a long pause.

"Was there anything else?" Sinead O'Driscoll asked, her voice cool. After another long and awkward pause, Shacklebolt shook his head and stood, Tonks quickly standing as Arcturus rose to show them out.

Alice Kettering was standing at the door, holding it open politely, when Shacklebolt stopped abruptly. "Those are illegal," he said, pointing to the firearm at the mercenary's hip.

"Licenced and special dispensation," she responded in a bored tone, meeting his accusing glare with a neutral one of her own.

"It's amazing what you can get permission for with the right contacts, training and a certain amount of financial assistance," supplied Arcturus blandly. "Unless there is something else you wish to take offence to while you are here?" he continued sarcastically. "Perhaps our wards are a little too violent for your taste or the fact that my house elf is old, racist and refuses to be house-broken is something you would care to investigate as opposed to the recent murders?"

Shacklebolt scowled but didn't respond as he stamped down the steps. Tonks smiled nervously at Lord Black and the pretty mercenary behind him, the former smiling tightly in return, the latter winking back over Arcturus' shoulder, prompting a more genuine smile from Tonks and a slight blush as she made her way down the steps after her partner.

* * *

**Department of Magical Law Enforcement**

**Ministry of Magic**

"Tell me, Kingsley, what was your opinion of Harry?" Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, had the annoying ability to turn almost any environment he was in, at least as far as those he was with were concerned, into a classroom, in which he was the teacher. Amelia Bones found this a particularly annoying trait, especially considering they were currently in _her_ office and speaking with two of _her_ employees. She scowled at him but gave them a nod of permission to answer. The Auror in question puffed out his cheeks as he exhaled.

"Well, he's understandably quite emotional at the moment - "

"Yes, yes, of course he is. What of the spells?" The three other people looked at the Headmaster in shock at his callous attitude to the emotional stress that Harry was under and Tonks began to wonder exactly why it was they had agreed to question Harry on his behalf, part of her wishing that she had agreed to the lawyer's statement about it being a conflict of interest.

"Accidental channeling of too much power for the Fiendfyre," replied Shacklebolt tersely, "and the lawyer stopped us from asking about the other one." Dumbledore frowned at the lack of success.

"You're Aurors, are you not?" he asked accusingly, "Could you not have claimed relevance to the case?"

"On what grounds, Albus?" countered Madam Bones before Kingsley could answer, knowing that he was a strong supporter of Dumbledore. She wasn't entirely against him herself, but then again, he had only recently taken up his post as a Headmaster when she was at school, and Amelia liked to think that she could rely on herself as opposed to Albus Dumbledore for determining right from wrong and forming her own opinions. Besides, he had irritated her enough by intercepting Kingsley and Tonks on their way to the Black residence and convincing them to continue with his line of questioning, a fact that she had only become aware of when he had come to her office to wait for their return and it was far too late for her to recall them.

"It is important, Amelia," replied Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling away at her over the half-moon glasses. "If the boy is being raised in an environment that encourages the practicing of Dark magics, then it is in everyone's best interest, especially his, to have him removed."

"And that would be a case for the Department of Child Welfare," she snapped back at him, "not an ongoing murder investigation." She pointed to Tonks and Shacklebolt. "You two, go investigate." The two Aurors stood, one eagerly and one with a little reluctance and an apologetic glance to his unofficial boss that was ignored, turning to leave as his official boss turned her attention back to the old wizard. "Albus, I have met Harry, he seems perfectly well balanced considering he has seen two children of his own age killed in front of him within the past year. I would also add that Sirius clearly dotes on him, as does Remus and even Arcturus in his own fashion. Regardless of what the Black family has done in the past, do you have a single shred of evidence that Harry is being taught anything illegal?"

Dumbledore, more than a little taken aback at being addressed in this manner, struggled to think of a reply, "Well, no, but - "

"Then drop it or find some," she snapped. "Until then, I have two escaped convicts on the run who seem to have been put on this earth to give me a headache and an unreasonable amount of paperwork." She grabbed some of said paperwork and a quill and began reading through it. After a minute's silence, she looked up at the sound of a crinkling sweet wrapper to see Dumbledore still sitting there, staring intently at the wall as he popped a lemon drop into his mouth.

"That was your cue to leave, Dumbledore," she snapped irritably.

"Oh, right," the elderly wizard said, standing and casting about to make sure he hadn't left anything behind. "Ta-ra!" he gave a small wave as he strode out the door.

Sometimes Amelia was certain the self-proclaimed Leader of the Light had gone senile.

* * *

**Grimmauld Place**

"How far do you want to go?" asked Darren as he met Harry by the door, both of them in shorts, t-shirts and trainers, a small pistol strapped discreetly in the small of the mercenary's back, Harry's wand holstered on his arm and disillusioned.

Harry thought for a moment. "Five… six miles?"

Darren nodded in agreement. "You set the pace then."

It was Harry's turn to nod and he set off down the pavement away from the house.

Just over thirty minutes later, they were sprinting back to the house, each desperate to overtake the other on the final stretch and much to his chagrin, the teenager almost had the ex-Commando.

"Next time," panted Darren, wiping at the sweat dripping from his forehead, "you're wearing a weights jacket." Harry nodded grimly. He hadn't been able to take Darren on the final stretch, but judging by the fact that he had just hit one of his personal best times for a six mile run and his muscles were telling him he could have pushed himself a bit harder during the run itself, he figured without the jacket he would probably have left him behind half way through the run.

With a grunt, Darren pushed himself up. "Come on. Jog round the park twice to cool down."

They slowed at the end of their second lap and Harry turned to the one person he had least expected sympathy from out of the group to address something that had been irritating him ever since the mercenary had asked him on the run. "Why are you being nice to me?" A look of surprise flickered across Darren's tired face before being replaced with his trademark scowl.

"Let's not ruin our Hallmark moment, kid." He gave Harry a none-too-gentle push up the steps to the front door. Harry gave an internal shrug as the apparently brief mood swing towards the positive was now over. Neither one of them had noticed Arcturus watching them from the top window.

* * *

"I have just one question for you," the old Lord said bluntly, addressing the man standing across from him, "Do I need to be worried about you?" There was a long pause, both keeping their faces carefully neutral.

"About what, in particular?"

"I know where you're from." The rest of the statement went unsaid. _Is your history going to affect your ability to perform your duties?_ The soldier stiffened slightly, glaring back at the aristocrat.

"The only people I consider family, share blood with you." He bit off, glaring back at the coldly evaluating gaze. After a long pause there was a grunt and a nod from the old man and the subject of his questioning scowled, stalking angrily from the room.

* * *

**Sunday Afternoon, Grimmauld Place**

"How's it going, Harry?" He looked up into his great-grandfather's eyes and gave a small, sad shrug from his seat in the Black library.

"She's gone." His voice came out barely above a whisper. Arcturus sighed, not knowing how to console someone who had suffered two great losses at such a young age.

"Yes," he admitted sadly, "and we cannot bring her back. But I saw the memory, Harry, she knew you cared for her and that you would have done anything for her. That must have bought her some comfort." Harry frowned at the attempted consolation.

"It wasn't enough though, was it?" he complained bitterly.

"Sometimes it never is." He saw the young boy's face about to crumple and sat in the chair near him. "Now listen to me, Harry," he held his gaze as he began to explain, "There is nothing, _nothing_," he stressed, "that you could have done to change what had happened - the Time-Turner couldn't have taken you back to before the point where Victoria was taken, and if you had gone straight there, alone, you would now be dead too." He held up a hand to stall Harry's protests. "You are well trained and advanced for your age, but even so, Bellatrix regularly gave Sirius a run for his money in the last war. But do you think you could have faced off against her on your own? She would have taken you! And with three others to help her, how do you think you'd fare while you tried to protect Victoria and her family?" He shook his head sadly, repeating his earlier assertion softly. "You would have been killed. You did everything that you could."

They descended into silence, each focused on their own thoughts before Arcturus spoke again.

"Have you had any luck finding your animagus form?" he tried as a change to a lighter topic.

Harry gave a miserable shake of his head. "No. Nothing before the… before the weekend, and now all I get is a flashback to the fire."

"That's understandable," Arcturus told him reassuringly, "It took me several attempts before I discovered my form." He sighed heavily, standing and placing a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder. "Keep trying. It will help to have something to keep your mind occupied. We will head back to Hogwarts in an hour, I'll walk with you as far as your dorms and then I must have a conversation with Dumbledore and Minnie." Harry nodded, turning his focus back to the book in his lap. After a moment, when he realized that Arcturus' hand was still on his shoulder, Harry looked up and saw the expression on the older man's face.

"What is it?"

"There is someone I would like you to speak to over the next few days," Arcturus said gently, "A therapist. A Mind Healer if you will." Distaste warred with confusion on Harry's face at the suggestion. "There is no shame in this, Harry. If you speak to the Higgins soldiers, many of them will tell you that they have done exactly the same. If you don't feel you are ready just yet, I can accept that, but I would like you to speak with someone sooner or later." After a moment, Harry gave a jerky nod. Arcturus gave him a final pat on the shoulder before turning to leave the room.

* * *

**Sunday Evening**

**Hogwarts**

Minerva McGonagall sighed, turning from the heartbreaking scene in the Gryffindor common room. She had accompanied Harry and Arcturus as far as the portrait, where the two had stopped at the entrance to say their farewells before Harry muttered the password to a sympathetic looking Fat Lady. He had walked slowly across the silent room, the eyes of his house-mates following him. He waved off Neville and the twins without a word as they stood to greet him, disappearing alone up the stairs towards his dorm.

"How is he?"

"As well as can be expected," grumbled Arcturus, turning from the painting as they walked slowly to the Entry Hall. "I would like him to speak to a Mind Healer. The Higgins group employs a Healer and I will ask them to have her visit Harry here." McGonagall nodded in understanding.

"He… He is going to be alright, isn't he?" she asked hesitantly as they paused outside the main doors. Arcturus sighed, looking up at the stars as if there would be an answer hidden in the celestial objects.

"I honestly do not know," he admitted after a moment. "The scans showed no physical damage and he nearly out ran one of the mercenaries yesterday, but we both know that is the least of our worries…" Arcturus trailed off with another heavy sigh before turning back to McGonagall. "When Sirius returns, he will be angry. And I mean really angry." She nodded, frowning at the thought of the ex-Marauder's reaction to his adopted son's actions. "I would recommend advising the Headmaster to avoid antagonising him too much, otherwise Sirius may well withdraw him from the school." Minerva sighed and nodded again. Arcturus rubbed his face tiredly, giving her a weary smile before pulling her into a hug. "Goodbye, Minnie. Take care of Harry for me," she smiled back up at him as he cupped her gently under the chin, looking into her eyes, "And of yourself, my dear."

_A/N So there's the follow up. Mixed reaction to the last chapter, though hopefully this has cleared up any questions. Once again, thanks for the reviews and a particular thank you to Andor Swiftblade for being a Beta. Just a couple of further points:_

_1) One pick-up about the shadow from the previous chapter - this will be explained further later on, but if anyone has a burning desire to know what it was or a decent theory, by all means PM me and I'll explain or not depending on my mood._

_2) The spell Harry used to contain the Carrows literally translates as Pain Chains in Latin. I think. I used Google, so it could be anything._

_Hope you enjoyed, please read and review._


	19. Chapter 19

_AN: I hope you enjoyed your holidays, here's a belated Christmas present to you. Thanks for the reviews and apologies for the mistakes._

* * *

**Monday Morning, Gryffindor Tower**

When Neville awoke to go for the morning run that, thanks to Harry was now becoming a habit, he was surprised to see that his friend's bed was already empty. They hadn't been told much of what had gone on on Friday night, other than that there had been an attack and that Harry would be recuperating at home for the weekend but would be back with them shortly. Naturally the Hogwarts rumour mill had run rampant with several fantastical stories about what might pull Harry from Hogwarts. Neville's personal favourite had been put forward by a first year Hufflepuff a little too enamoured with the children's stories, and suggested that a dragon was attacking Diagon Alley and Harry was the only person who could defeat it. Having seen Harry's expression when he re-entered the dorm the night before, Neville knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that whatever the rumours were, the reality was certainly unpleasant.

He had spoken to both Daphne and Susan on the Saturday morning after Harry's disappearance, when Neville had woken up early and decided to go for a run for want of anything better to do, only to be surprised by finding both the girls waiting for him in the entrance hall, forgetting that this is what they had arranged with Harry. He had explained to them what had happened and their concern over their missing friend had meant that instead of exercising, they had spent the entirety of their training session discussing Harry.

Now, making sure not to wake the others who were still sleeping, Neville dressed in his exercise kit, quietly making his way out of the dorm and down towards the entrance hall. He gave a sad shake of his head to the girls who were anxiously waiting on him and they made their way outside.

"Well…" began Neville awkwardly "shall we run down to the pitch, couple of laps and the circuits Harry had us do last week?" Two heads nodded in return.

"Did he come back last night?" Susan asked hesitantly. Neville nodded slowly as they left the Hall and into the crisp morning air.

"About ten o'clock last night. He didn't say a word though, just went straight to bed and he was already up when I woke this morning, so I've not had a chance to check in with him." He explained morosely as they began jogging towards the pitch.

Half way through their first set of push ups, they were joined by the boy himself. Breathing heavily and sweating even harder, Harry dropped down next to them without saying a word, immediately beginning his own set that included him twisting his body to alternate stretching each arm into the air as soon as he reached the top of the push up with far more enthusiasm than the rest of them could muster for their own push ups.

"Hey Harry" greeted Susan, glad for the opportunity to take a break "how are you doing?" The others paused, waiting for an answer.

"Don't stop." He grunted, springing to his feet and sprinting to the far end of the field and back as they finished the set. If Neville had been in any doubt as to how far ahead Harry's levels of fitness were than his, it did not last long as the other boy left him so far behind he was barely three quarters of the way across the pitch before Harry passed him going back the other way.

The rest of the session continued in much the same manner, a grim faced Harry ignoring the concerned looks that he was getting from his friends as he pushed himself harder and faster than them making a complete mockery of any attempt to pace him. By the time they had finished, they were all covered in sweat.

"What" panted Daphne as they finished their run back to the castle, turning towards Harry "has gotten into you."

"Training's stepping up a notch." Harry answered just as breathless, striding towards the stairs towards the Gryffindor tower. Neville shrugged helplessly at the girls before hurrying to follow him.

"Harry, slow down a bit." He cast an irritated glance behind him but slowed his pace enough for the other boy to catch up. "What happened on Friday?" Neville asked after a long pause of trying to regain his breath.

"I don't want to talk about it." The answer came back quick and sharp enough to shock Neville into noticing the pain that flickered briefly across Harry's face before being ruthlessly covered with by a cold mask.

The Great Hall went silent as they entered, eyes turning to watch Harry as he quickly took a seat, face still carefully neutral and ignoring the attention he was getting from students and staff alike. Harry served himself a large bowl of porridge and fruit, studiously examining the plain goblet in front of him to avoid meeting the concerned glances that were sent his way, mechanically spooning his breakfast into his mouth. The post owls arrived just as he poured himself a cup of coffee, grabbing a copy of the _Daily Prophet_.

Neville watched as Harry flicked through the paper, apparently finding what he was looking for when his grip crumpled the pages where he was holding it, his breath catching as he read the article quickly. With a flash of concern he noticed Harry's face crumple and eyes clench shut before the paper was closed abruptly and a now stony-faced Boy-Who-Lived stood and strode from the room. Neville reached across and began flicking through the paper, trying to find the offending article before eventually coming to the only realistic candidate on page 4.

**Escaped Death Eaters Attack Muggle Family.**

_In another heinous attack by escaped Death Eaters Peter Pettigrew and Bellatrix Lestrange, fifteen muggles have been killed. On Friday night, Aurors were alerted to high levels of dark magic at a London address, arriving to discover the occupants of the house had been killed using a most foul artefact that results in creating an Inferius, or walking corpse._

_During the course of their investigation, the Aurors were called to a separate address where evidence of a much larger force of Inferi was discovered and a raid of the property resulted in the arrest of Alecto and Amycus Carrow. Both siblings were previously investigated as suspected Death Eaters and sources were able to confirm that both siblings bore the Dark Mark._

_While little information is currently available, sources within the ministry have stated that they believe this to have been a random attack, with the Auror Press Office releasing the following statement._

"_During the course of our investigation into multiple murders, we are pleased to confirm the arrest of the Carrow siblings. It is believed that they were aiding escaped convicts, Bellatrix Lestrange and Peter Pettigrew, in their ongoing attempts at reviving the terrorist organisation known as the Death Eaters. Both Lestrange and Pettigrew remain at large and should be considered extremely dangerous. If you sight either of them, do not approach them but report them to the nearest Auror office."_

Neville frowned at the brief article, remembering how short the Prophet had been the last time Bellatrix and Peter had struck against Harry. He wondered if it was worth asking Hermione to speak to her parents to see if they could find anything more out as he quickly finished his breakfast and went after Harry.

Despite his best efforts, it was the end of the day before Neville was able to corner Harry without an audience. The other boy was unpacking the books he had been using that day, face still a carefully composed mask. Just as Neville was trying to work out the best way to approach what had happened before the weekend, Harry turned to face him.

"No." Neville stopped in surprise at the apparently random outburst.

"No what?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Harry clarified firmly.

"Oh." Neville thought about it for a moment. "Are you still going to the Duelling Club this evening?" He asked.

"Nope." Replied Harry, without elaborating further. McGonagall had pulled him aside earlier, informing him that the mind healer Arcturus had spoken of would be arriving shortly after dinner and a room had been made available for them. As much as he didn't want to talk about what had happened, he also knew that neither his grandfather, Sirius or probably Professor McGonagall would let him skive out of this and so it was easier to suck it up and go. It also meant that he had a valid reason not to attend the Dueling Club that would be another opportunity for people to stare at him and ask questions he didn't want to answer.

* * *

The rest of the week continued in much the same manner. Neville, Susan and Daphne would wake to go for their exercises only to find that Harry had begun some time before, joining them already covered in sweat and breathing heavily, teeth gritted and face set in determination as he pushed himself harder and harder. During classes he was almost glaring at the teachers he was concentrating so hard, finishing the assigned work early before reading ahead to the next lesson. Throughout it all, Harry either refused to answer or ignored any questions on what had happened, and despite him owling home and keeping a close eye on the newspaper, Neville could find nothing that explained the change in attitude.

Apart from Harry disappearing every evening for an hour or so, only two incidents of note occurred throughout the week. First was on Monday evening just as everyone was heading down for dinner, when Harry caught the Head Boy by surprise and apologised for threatening him. It seemed to have caught the snooty young man by surprise as he seemed somewhat flustered, accepting with a "Yes, well, don't let it happen again."

The second came at Wednesday lunchtime. Neville had just dumped his bag in his room and was waiting with the twins and Lee for Harry to come back from Ancient Runes when the boy appeared with Hermione in tow. A dozen or so of their housemates watched as the bushy-haired girl peppered the boy's back with questions as they entered,

"I've already apologised Hermione - " Harry was saying flatly, the twitching of his face showing that this line of questioning had been going on for some time and he was getting close to losing his patience.

"And I told you I don't want an apology!" She interrupted with a wail "I had to drop Care of Muggle Studies and Divination because of you taking my Time turner and they wouldn't give it back to me - I want an explanation!"

Harry stopped abruptly, his back tensing and he turned slowly to face the girl. "Muggle Studies and Divination." He said in a whisper, his face unreadable. She glared back at him and nodded in the affirmative. He rubbed his face roughly with his hand and when it came down, Neville realised just how tired and hurt Harry looked under his mask of control, his eyes now meeting Hermione's glare with one of his own. "Fine. Well I gave my girlfriend a necklace that lets me see she's ok when she holds it and thinks of me. You know what I saw on Friday when she was at her birthday party?" A now very nervous Hermione shook her head and the rest of the common room abandoned all attempts at pretending not to eavesdrop on the conversation. "Bellatrix Lestrange and Peter Pettigrew." There was a collective gasp from the rest of the audience and Hermione covered her mouth in horror as Harry continued. "They kidnapped my girlfriend and I used your Time-turner to try and save her. Is that enough of an explanation for you?" He demanded angrily.

"I.. I didn't - "

"Do you want to know what your thirty-five minutes got me?" His voice was low and dangerous, every word lashing out to strike at Hermione who backed away until she met the wall and couldn't go any further. "It got me there just in time for her to die in my arms and turn into an Inferius." She stared at him open mouthed, tears streaking down her face. "Tell me, Hermione - was her life worth your Muggle Studies and Divination?"

Hermione's eyes flickered desperately around the room for assistance, encountering only faces too shocked to move let alone help her out. With a cry she dropped her books, turning and running from the common room, slamming the portrait of the Fat Lady behind her. With a scowl, Harry span on his heel and stalked towards the dorm room, ignoring the stunned expressions on his housemates faces. "Fucking Muggle Studies and Divination." He muttered angrily as he left.

* * *

"Er… Harry?" Neville tried cautiously. He hadn't really worked out what to say to him after Harry's revelation in the common room. Back in their dorm, Harry was lying on his bed, hands inter-linked behind his head as he stared up at the red and gold curtains hanging above him. He had been there for the entire afternoon, trying to calm himself down. He rolled his head to look at Neville standing by the door. "Decided not to go to History of Magic, huh?" He tried awkwardly for want of anything else to say. Harry shrugged one shoulder and resumed his examination of the drapes. "Uh… it's just Hermione wasn't there either. Don't suppose you've seen her?"

Without another word Harry rolled into a sitting position and reached for a rather well-used piece of parchment on his bed-side chest. He tapped it with his wand before muttering "I solemnly swear I am up to no good". As the lines began to move around the paper, Harry handed it to Neville, lying back on the bed and continued staring blankly at nothing.

"You know it wasn't Hermione's fault, right?" Neville tried as he looked for the girl on the map.

"Of course it wasn't," Harry admitted with a heavy sigh "She just kept badgering me for a damn explanation and I just… snapped." He finished lamely.

"She's umm…" Neville trailed off and looked up hopefully "She's in the girl's bathroom on the second floor. Don't suppose you want to come with me?"

"Not particularly."

"Please?"

"Why?" Neville shifted awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Um… that's Moaning Myrtle's bathroom." He explained.

"Who, or what, is a Moaning Myrtle?" Asked Harry tiredly as he pushed himself back to a sitting position.

"Er… she's a ghost." Neville explained, blushing lightly. "She died in that bathroom in the 1940's and never left."

"And the fact that there's a ghost of a little girl in there means you need my help why?"

"She freaks me out dude!" Neville's response had Harry looking up at him in surprise and Neville blushed even harder. "She's weird." He mumbled.

"We're in a magical castle where the stairs move while you're on them, paintings shift to wherever they want when they get bored, there's a giant squid you can play catch with in the lake, the Potions Professor is a terrorist, our headmaster is senile, our deputy headmistress turns herself into a cat and we're all sorted into our houses by a magical artifact with tourettes, and you get weirded out by the ghost of a little girl?" Neville nodded "Our History teacher is a ghost as well, does he freak you out too?" Harry asked as an after thought. Neville shrugged awkwardly.

"No, but… she's _really_ weird." Harry stared at him for a moment, wondering just how strange this ghost needed to be to classify as 'weird' in this castle.

"Fuck it. What's the worst that could happen?" He followed Neville out of the room and they made their way to the second floor girl's bathroom, Harry pointedly ignoring the stares sent his way.

"Everyone knows now, don't they." He asked Neville quietly, not needing to be more specific.

"Yeah." Neville confirmed sympathetically.

"Shit."

"You want to - "

"Nope."

"- talk about it? OK then." They carried on in silence before reaching the bathroom. They listened carefully outside. Guilt flickered across Harry's face as he heard quiet sobbing through the door. Neville's hand caught his just as Harry was about to push the door open, holding a finger to his lips as he continued listening.

There was nothing but the occasional sob and slowly a small, relieved smile crept across Neville's mouth. He turned to Harry and nodded. "We're safe." There was a new noise from the bathroom, a giggle, to be precise. Neville's face dropped. "Aww crap. She's here too."

"This I have to see." Harry said, pushing the door open. The toilet cubicles were along a wall to their right, mirrors and a counter to the left, with a large set of six sinks arranged around a circular block of badly carved stone in between. The first thing Harry saw though was a ghost leaning halfway through a closed toilet door at the far end, talking to whoever was on the other side of it.

"It will be soooo easy!" The ghost was saying. "Just a quick cut on your arm and then you slowly fall asleep! I'll be here with you all the way and then we can be together forever! It will be fun!"

Harry turned to Neville, a questioning look on his face. Neville shrugged and just waved at the ghost as if that was all the explanation needed.

"We could do it today," the ghost carried on "no one has come looking for you, no one would even miss you, so we'd have plenty of time." This latest one prompted a wail of grief from the locked cubicle and another giggle from the ghost, when Neville decided it was time for him to step in.

"We came looking for you Hermione." The sniffling quieted down at Neville's comment and the ghost withdrew it's head from the cubicle to glare at them.

"You interrupted me. She was this close to slitting her wrists and then I would have had someone to play with." She held her finger and thumb about an inch apart to show how close she had been to getting a friend. Then her face changed to delight as she swooped towards Harry. "Ooooohhhhh. You look miserable too… would you like to come and join me? It could be a murder murder suicide and then we could all be friends together - we could call ourselves the Ghost Gang!" She clapped her hands together gleefully. Neville smirked.

"See what I mean?" He asked Harry.

"Yep, she's pretty weird." Harry replied. Neville winced and Myrtle recoiled as if she had been slapped before pulling a double backflip and diving into one of the toilets.

"Ha… Harry?" Came the tentative question as the toilet door cracked open. A bushy head of hair poked out before red-rimmed eyes and splotchy cheeks became visible, a little trail of unwiped snot from one nostril. Hermione looked like crap.

"Hey Hermione." Harry tried awkwardly, not really sure what to say.

Just then a toilet exploded. A fountains of water shot from the far stall, splashing against the ceiling just as the next one launched its contents to splatter against the ceiling.

Harry reached out, barging the door out of the way to grab Hermione by the scruff of her school robes, yanking her roughly out of the cubicle and earning a yelp in response even as two more toilets launched worryingly brown water to stain the ceiling.

"Nev! Get the door!" He called as he pushed Hermione towards the exit. Neville pulled ineffectually at the door, turning with a panicked expression and shaking his head. "Get behind the sink!" The three of them cowered behind the large stone sink as a vile flood of human filth continued to pound into the ceiling before dropping to pool and spread across the floor.

"Awww shit." Said Neville, watching the brown puddle spread towards them.

Harry sniggered at the unintentional pun, earning himself a slap on the shoulder from Hermione, whose fragile mood was apparently remedied by the prospect of drowning in a sea of bodily waste.

"Really?" She asked incredulously, "Toilet humour? Now?!"

"What?"

"Get us out of here!" She screamed.

Harry stared around. No windows, they couldn't open the door and shit was literally flying everywhere. He poked his head over the lip of the sink, taking as much shelter as possible from the top of the sink block. His eyes were caught by a carving so completely random it seemed to jump out at him, two snakes intertwined, so well carved that they seemed lifelike in comparison to the rest of the block that the snakes could only have been done by a separate, significantly more skilled hand. "How interesting." He mused, before being pulled back to the present as a worryingly wet mess flew far to close for comfort past his head and forced him to duck.

"What?" Asked Hermione, red-rimmed eyes hopeful.

"What?" Asked Harry confused.

"You said something up there."

"Oh yeah - I said 'How interesting'," He clarified, "there's a cool carving of a snake on the sink there."

"Nah," said Neville, staring worriedly at the rapidly advancing pool of pooh. "Sounded like you said 'Yes!'" He said "Only more drawn out, like you'd found a way to get us out of here."

"Nope. Snake carving." Harry replied, going back to gazing around the room in the hope that he would find their way out. He caught Hermione's amazed gaze. "What?"

"We're about to be drowned in… in" Hermione Granger didn't swear. Ever. "SHIT!" She screamed at him "And you're looking at a stupid snake carving?!" Harry stared at her in shock. "And Neville was right, you said 'yesss'."

"I didn't." Harry replied, leaning around Hermione to see the other boy. "Neville, you owe me ten sickles."

"What?"

"She swore by the end of the year, you owe me ten sickles." Neville and Hermione looked at him as if he was crazy.

"Fine." Snapped Neville. "If we ever get out of here, I owe you ten sickles, now can you please find us a way out of this… this shit-hole?!" Harry sniggered again.

"That was pretty funny." He poked his head up. The toilets were no longer launching their contents up to the ceiling, but continued to overflow, pumping out a thick, sludgy mess that had now reached the far side of the sinks and effectively blocked off their way back to the door. He found his eyes drawn back to the snake carving. "I don't suppose you guys know a way to get out of here?" He said, directing the question at the carvings "Perhaps you could talk Myrtle in to letting the doors open?"

Just as he finished, there was a rumble and the stone shifted in front of him. The three of them gaped in amazement as the sink morphed into a large hole in the ground that disappeared into darkness, a waft of stale air greeted them that would normally have them gagging now seemed like the sweetest of summer breezes as it provided temporary respite from the stench of human faeces.

Harry looked at the other two and gave them a slight smile. "Shall we?" He asked, waving towards the hole.

"You can't seriously be thinking about going down there?!" Hermione cried out, as she recoiled from the edge and nearly fell into the mess that continued to spread across the floor and was leaving very little room for them to stand and not get covered.

"Would you rather drown in shit?" Asked Harry.

"Fuck it." Said Neville, jumping into the hole feet first and disappearing rapidly from sight.

"Fuck it." Agreed Harry, following him into the darkness.

"I really ffff… flllll… gah! I _really_ hate those boys." Muttered Hermione and she cast one final look around her before following them down the hole.


	20. Chapter 20

_A/N: Just a really brief one to say thanks for all the reviews - I'm pretty sure I've replied to most/all of them so far but my apologies if I've missed you, nothing personal._  
_Towards the end of this chapter and the beginning of the next I'm going to be writing about the same events from different view points - I think that I've been fairly successful in making this as clear as possible but if anyone has any suggestions or criticisms, please let me know. Also, ping me a PM if you think you've worked out what Harry's animagus form is as it probably wont be revealed for a while, likewise for those who have any suggestions for chapter names - I have a few ideas but if you have any, again please PM._

_Last and most definitely not least, thanks to Andor Swiftblade, who has once again proven that while you can't polish a turd, you can roll it in glitter._

* * *

"Where the hell are we?" whispered Neville as he gazed around the darkened tunnel, his softly glowing wand tip casting shadows that stretched far into the darkness.

"No idea," replied Harry, reaching out to help Hermione stand from where she had fallen at the bottom of the tunnel that had appeared in the bathroom sink. He pulled the Marauder's Map from his pocket, studying it for a moment before shrugging. "Mischief managed." He tucked the map away, casting a cleaning spell on himself before adding light from his own wand to that from Neville's. "The Map doesn't know either."

"What's that map?"

"Really?" Neville was giving her an incredulous look. "We're Merlin only knows where in the bowels of Hogwarts and the first question you have is about Harry's map? You really need to re-evaluate your priorities." Hermione at least had the decency to blush at the reprimand and began examining their surroundings.

"Do you think there's another way out?" she tried again after a moment.

"Now that's more like it," Neville grumbled.

"No idea," Harry replied. "Come on, let's go have a look. Stay close." He began moving his wand in a simple pattern that left a burning trail in the air before he jabbed it towards the wall next to the tunnel entrance. The rune scheme burned brightly before it sank into the rock, leaving a faint blue residue on the tunnel wall. "If we get separated, this will guide you back here. If anything happens, someone has to make it back and go for help."

"What?" Now it was Hermione's turn to look incredulous. "We're in some unknown rooms that probably haven't been opened since the Founders and could hold who knows what sort of dangerous creatures or traps, and you want to go explore?!"

"You mean you're in an unknown room that hasn't been opened since the Founders and you _don't_ want to go and explore?" Neville asked, turning Hermione's own question back at her. "They could hold who knows what type of old books and forgotten knowledge."

Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times before she huffed in irritation, folding her arms across her chest and glaring at them both. "Fine. But if we all die, I'm blaming you!" she said, pointing at Harry.

"Fair enough." He gave a small smile, waving into the darkened tunnels. "Shall we?"

They moved into the tunnel, wands held aloft to cast shadows that danced away into the darkness around twisting pillars covered in ornate carvings of serpents. Hermione shuddered at the hundreds of small skeletons that crunched under their feet, rats, mice and a few more belonging to creatures that she couldn't identify.

"At least there aren't any spiders," Neville muttered mostly to himself as they moved further into the tunnel system.

"Stop!" Harry called, raising a hand into the air.

"What is it?" Neville asked, glancing nervously around.

"That." Harry pointed at the roll of what looked like carpet that had been kicked to one side of the tunnel.

"Why is there a carpet in the tunnel?" Neville asked, giving it a closer look.

"Rather unpleasant carpet," said Hermione, crouching and reaching a hand towards it. "Feels like... um..."

"Snake skin," Harry said, eyes darting around.

"Yes!" replied Hermione excitedly, "That's exactly what it feels like. How did you know?"

"We need to go back."

"What? Why?"

"How many magical snakes do you know of that could survive, potentially since the Founders, grow to however long that is and are friendly?" Harry asked in a worried whisper. Neville thought about it for a moment as Hermione's expression brightened.

"Oh, well, there's Hydra, from Greek mythology, I suppose Jormungand from Norse mythology, the Nagas of Hindu and Buddhism, the Echidna is Greek but also half-woman - and that doesn't look like it's half woman - and I suppose the same could be said about Cecrops of Athenian mythology who had a man's head and chest on a snake's body; Quetzalcoatl was the feathered snake from the Aztec mythology, though this one doesn't have any feathers; closer to home was Melusina, she was part fish, part woman, part snake and had to spend one day of every week in water, so I suppose if we had to get out, we could look for the water, but we might run into it." She looked around at them. "What?"

"Did you swallow a library when you were younger?" he asked with a smirk.

"Also, I asked for magical creatures that are friendly. Those are all… not friendly," Harry muttered, bending to get a closer look at the skin. He cast several high powered cutting charms that barely scratched the discarded scales, before going for a different tack, lifting a loose scale, recasting his spells underneath it and levering it up to cast again and again. "You also missed the most likely one considering the size of this skin and the fact that these scales seem remarkably resilient even when they're not attached to the creature," he said, grunting with effort as he prized away the scale before waving it triumphantly at the other two and tucking it into his pocket.

"Which one?" asked Neville.

"A Basilisk!" Hermione gulped and gave a nervous laugh.

"But a Basilisk couldn't grow this big, it would need to be hundreds of years old!"

"Yep," agreed Harry, "And that's exactly why we should be leaving. Now." He turned back the way they came, all of them now significantly more on edge, glancing nervously into every twitching shadow.

Hermione gazed back up the tunnel towards the bathroom. "So I just have two questions - "

"Really?" interrupted Harry. "Just the two of them?"

"For now," Hermione continued, "One, how do we get back up?"

"Umm..." Neville looked up the shaft to a very distant point of light before looking back at Harry and giving a shrug.

"And two, when we get back up, do you think Myrtle will still be doing her thing?"

Harry cocked his head to one side and thought for a moment. "Huh." He shrugged. "I hadn't really thought about it. But," he continued before Hermione could start shouting at him, "I reckon we have a better chance of survival up there with Myrtle doing her best impression of the Golgothan shit demon than we do with whatever it is that's living down here."

"Better the devil you know?" Asked Neville, earning himself a nod. He looked up the tunnel to the bathroom again before turning back to Harry. "Right then. How are we going to do this?"

"What makes you think I have any idea?"

"You always have a plan," Neville responded. Harry shrugged.

"Not this time." He looked up through the tunnel, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Having said that... Do you guys know the Summoning Charm?"

"That's a fourth year charm!" Hermione protested.

"So that's a no. Okay, I'll go first and then summon you guys up if it's safe."

"And if it's not safe?" asked Neville.

"Then find another way out," Harry said with a shrugged and raised his wand, squinting along it as he aimed. "_Accio toilet ceiling!_" There was the briefest pause and then the last Neville and Hermione saw of him was a rather startled expression followed by a scream that slowly trailed off as he disappeared rapidly up the pipe. "Oh shiii - "

Neville looked at Hermione and gave a shrug of his own. A moment later, if they had been much further up the pipe and been listening very carefully, they would have heard a distant voice saying "_Accio Hermione Granger!_" The bushy haired girl disappeared with a shriek of her own, leaving Neville glancing nervously into the shadows for what seemed like a worryingly long time until Neville began his own rapid ascent back up the pipe.

Twisting as he was summoned through the air so he could face his direction of travel, he noticed the circle of light that indicated the entrance to the bathroom growing rapidly larger. He flew out of the far end and just as suddenly as it had started, the force pulling him up the pipe disappeared and he found himself struggling for balance on the sink next to Harry, the other boy's arm grabbing him firmly to stop him from falling into the sea of foul smelling brown that surrounded them, idly noting that some form of magical barrier was stopping it from flowing down the pipe towards the chamber below them. He looked around.

"Where'd Hermione get to?" he asked. Harry rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and did his best to avoid Neville's eyes.

"Er… so you know how I caught you as you came out of the tunnel?"

"Yeah?"

"Er… when Hermione came up, I kind of… didn't."

"Do you have any idea how much I hate you right now?" A vaguely Hermione shape lump of filth pushed itself from the floor and glared at them both. Neville's jaw dropped at the sight of the girl.

"Heh… er… no." Harry got out eventually before smiling brightly. "I can help though - _Tergeo!_" Slowly, Hermione's features became visible as the covering of crap was slowly siphoned away, followed shortly by "_Scourgify!_" And she was clean again, though still scowling at them as she stood with the puddle now steady at mid-calf height. There was a long and very uncomfortable pause. "Did you… would you try the door for us, Hermione?"

With a thunderous expression on her face, Hermione splashed her way across the bathroom and yanked at the door, which, surprisingly for all of them, opened with little fuss. With a triumphant "Hah!" Hermione stomped out of the bathroom, ignoring the two boys still stranded in the middle of the vile puddle that now oozed into the corridor, casting several 'S_courgify's_ on herself as she made her way back to the Gryffindor tower, wondering if she would ever feel clean again.

Back in the bathroom, Harry gave a weak smile before turning to Neville. "So do you think she's still mad at us?"

Neville snorted out a laugh that turned into retching as the smell of the bathroom forced its way into his nose.

"Yeah, I thought she might be," muttered Harry as he cast the Bubblehead Charm on himself and then Neville. "Right," he began, his voice a little muffled coming through the magical barriers that saved them from breathing in the noxious odour. "I'm going to levitate you over to the door and as far out as I can, you then need to go get Dumbledore. I'm going to see if I can close the entrance and then try and clean some of this…" he waved at their surroundings. "Shit," he finished lamely for want of a more accurate description.

Very carefully, Harry cast the Levitation Charm on Neville and began to float him towards the door. "Hey, Nev, you reckon this is how Jesus did it?" Harry asked, trying to make light of the situation.

"Dunno. Try owling the Persian Ministry, that was their cover up job. I think they have a museum on the bloke as well, some place called Nazareth," Neville replied distractedly, looking down at the slick of shit that was moving beneath him. "Bollocks!" he said as he reached the door and looked out into the corridor.

"What is it?"

"This crap has spread half way down the corridor!" With a groan, he turned to look at Harry with a very miserable expression on his face. "You're going to have to put me down and I'll wade through it."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked "Can't you just freeze the top and then walk over it?"

"Huh. I never would have thought of that. _Glacius!_" Neville focused on casting the Freezing Spell before delicately reaching out a foot and testing it. "Seems good." He kept casting, pushing more power through and soon found himself stood on a small brown ice-floe. He flashed Harry a thumbs up and began casting on another patch for his next step.

"Just don't stop casting or you'll really be in the shit!" called Harry with a smirk as Neville disappeared around the door-frame. There was a groan at the awful joke but no response other than continued calls of "_Glacius!"_ from the other boy.

Now alone in a girls bathroom, Harry turned his attention back to the small carving on the sink. "So do I just tell you to close?" he tried. There was a grinding noise and the entrance to the tunnel shifted slightly before stopping. With a sinking feeling, Harry realised that he had probably just blocked open the entrance to an age-old chamber containing a centuries old magical serpent that would probably gladly kill the entire student body, all because he had prompted a temper-tantrum from a pre-pubescent ghost. "Fuck my life," Harry whispered to himself tiredly, slumping against the small island and sitting with his feet dangling scant inches from the sea of scat.

With a sigh, Harry began casting vanishing spells at the floor, walls and ceiling, all of which were liberally coated with the aftermath of Moaning Myrtle's hissy fit. _Thank God she's pissed off somewhere else for a bit_. He thought as he continued casting. Eventually the puddle around the sinks had been reduced enough that he could step down, continuing his cleaning efforts until the bathroom no longer looked like the inside of a septic tank. He turned back to the sink and the snake carving.

"Ah, Mr. Potter." He turned to see the Headmaster in a set of yellow robes with purple zigzags and green spots that made the eyes water to look at them. Perhaps more disturbing was that unless you were looking directly at them, it seemed like the the zigzags were moving in a pattern that prompted feelings of mild nausea, leaving one in the unenviable position of either looking at them and feeling like your eyes were being raped by the zebra God had created while tripping on acid, or only catching them out of the corner of they eye and feeling like your stomach had taken several spins on the worlds longest roller-coaster. They were some of Dumbledore's favourites for exactly that reason.

"Black-Potter," Harry corrected automatically. Judging by the uncomfortable expressions on the faces of Neville and Professor McGonagall, who had followed him to the bathroom, they were also less than impressed by the Headmaster's choice of wardrobe.

"Indeed." Dumbledore strode past him and peered into the tunnel. "Well..."

"Well..." said McGonagall, joining him to peer down into the darkness.

"Nope," corrected Harry, "Just a tunnel leading to more tunnels. If it was ever a well, it's definitely not one any more." Neville smirked behind a glaring McGonagall and a Dumbledore whose eyes were twinkling at an alarming rate behind his half-moon spectacles.

"Very droll, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said, turning back to the tunnel.

"Thank you, sir. It's still Black-Potter, sir." The Headmaster waved off the correction, ignoring it completely, figuring that if he called the boy nothing but 'Potter' then everyone else would soon too and then eventually Harry himself would only use Potter and not Black-Potter. Harry, on the other hand, was wondering why it was only the Headmaster who refused to call him by his correct name and just how long it would take to reach the bottomless depths of senility that the old man was apparently plumbing.

"Have you tried closing it?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yes, sir. Seems to be jammed. Probably on all this shi - "

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Black-Potter." McGonagall stepped in, earning herself a small frown from Dumbledore for using Harry's full name. "Mr. Longbottom has already told us about the circumstances leading up to your discovery. May I have a look at the scale he mentioned?" Harry fished out the item in question, passing it across to his Head of House who examined it closely as Dumbledore began casting diagnostic spells on the tunnel entrance.

"I got 'ere as quick 's I could!" Harry turned to see the giant form of Hagrid in the doorway, puffing slightly from his run up from his hut. A sympathetic look spread across his face as he greeted Harry and told him to pop down to for a visit any time he felt like escaping. "Now let's be havin' yeh," he said, as business like as Hagrid ever was, holding the scale and examining it minutely. He scratched the surface with his fingernail, sniffed it, rubbed it with his thumb and even darted his tongue out to taste it before handing it back to a disgusted looking McGonagall.

"Shed skin, was it?" he asked Harry, receiving a nod in return. "Huh. In'erestin'" He thought for a moment, wandering over to the tunnel to have a look, rubbing the wall as far down as his arm could reach before examining the dirt on his hand before standing and brushing his hands on his trousers.

"Well?" asked Dumbledore after a long pause, hoping for Hagrid to elucidate on what the creature might be.

"Nah, more like a tunnel, tha' is," replied Hagrid, "If it was a well, it's been dry fer ages."

"The animal, Rubeus!" Dumbledore's tone showed him to have been even less amused the second time he heard the joke, while Harry and Neville shared a small smile.

"Oh. Erm… Probably a snake," he clarified.

"But to produce a scale that size, it would have to be gigantic!" protested McGonagall. Hagrid gave another shrug.

"Probably a big fu-" he cut himself off, casting a not so subtle look towards the two schoolboys. "A really big snake," he finished lamely.

"The shed skin was all lumped up, we couldn't work out how long it was," Neville informed them. "But it looked like there was a lot of it."

"Like I said, ent i' - a really big snake," Hagrid said cheerfully. He took the scale back from a stunned McGonagall, holding the scale out to them for their inspection and pointing a large finger at what had been the inner edge of the scale. "See 'ere? This thickness 'ere sez it's prob'ly over eight hun'ered years old! Now if I were a bettin' man, an' I am on occasion," he added with a wink to Harry and Neville. "Goin' on' the age o' the snake an' the colouration o' the scale, I reckon you're prob'ly lookin' at a Basilisk." He grinned at the thought of such an exotic creature. "A fu- a really big 'un too!" he finished with barely a stumble over the halted profanity.

"Well, this makes it slightly more problematic that we can't close the entrance," commented Dumbledore, stroking his fingers through his beard and staring pensively at the tunnel.

"Can't you use the Headmaster's bond with the castle to close it?" asked McGonagall.

"No," he replied, his expression thoughtful. "It seems to use a specific type of magic that doesn't want to respond to me. If I had to guess, I would say that this is the famous lost Chamber of Secrets and that Salazar Slytherin locked it so only his descendants could open it." Everyone turned slowly to look at Harry, who was busy looking at the other carvings on the sink. After a moment of silence, he looked up to realise that everyone was looking at him.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" asked Harry, "I was ignoring you."

Dumbledore frowned while McGonagall pursed her lips in disapproval, Hagrid and Neville continued casting worried gazes at him.

"The Headmaster thinks that the tunnels below us were designed by Slytherin when the castle was first built," explained McGonagall, "He believes that it may have been locked so that only his descendants could open it."

"Huh," was Harry's response as he gave it some serious thought. "That's… kinda stupid."

"Mr. Potter!" gasped McGonagall in shock at yet another blatant show of disrespect from the Boy-Who-Lived.

"What?" asked Harry innocently. "I mean, if I was creating a secret chamber then sure, I'd want it limited to only a certain few - and family would definitely be up there on the list - but what about if something happened to them?" he pondered, explaining the flaws in the theory. "If you had allies, you'd want them to be able to get in as well, so it makes more sense to have a password of some sort that you could pass around to your friends. Or if it was to remain hidden for centuries, as it has been, you'd want some sort of blood or allegiance test… So yeah, I guess blood and family has that going for Slytherin's descendent, but over the past thousand or so years, unless every single Slytherin descendent has been having only one child, which is fairly improbable, the line would be so diluted you could probably link most of the older wizarding families back to the Slytherin line at some point." The three adults were staring at him in amazement, not having thought of it from that aspect at all, while Neville seemed the most accepting of the logic in Harry's argument. "Probably some of the Muggle ones too if the squibs integrated with non-magical society like the ones from the other families did. Besides, there's no guarantee that the descendent would share Slytherin's politics for whatever's inside it…" he trailed off, noticing the glazed expressions before remembering something far more important. "Oh, and Professor McGonagall?"

"Yes?"

"It's Black-Potter."

"Of course, my mistake," she replied distractedly, neither of them paying much mind to the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes that diminished considerably. They all turned their attention back to the gaping tunnel mouth.

"Hmmm," mused Dumbledore, wondering exactly how much publicity he could spin from this in a positive light, possibly even filling some of Hogwarts' worryingly empty coffers.

"Hmmm," fretted McGonagall, thinking of the utter chaos that could be sown were a thousand year old Basilisk unleashed on the student populace.

"Hmmm," contributed Hagrid, lost in the daydream of adding the Basilisk to the Hogwarts menagerie.

"Hmmm," mumbled Neville, because everyone else was doing it and he didn't want to feel left out.

"I have an idea…" began Harry, because he did. Once again everyone's attention turned to him. "The tunnel can't stay open because of the Basilisk," he stated, earning nods of agreement at the reasonable statement. "However, if we were to remove the Basilisk, the tunnel could remain open and it would allow people to explore in relative safety."

"And how, Mr. Black-Potter, do you propose we remove the Basilisk?" asked McGonagall, a feeling trepidation growing inside her chest at the prospect of Harry being involved in any sort of interaction with a Basilisk so soon after Victoria's death, despite the fact that he had seemed much more focused and less depressed since she arrived at the bathroom than he had been at any other time since returning to the school.

"Well, there are teams that are trained to deal with such large and dangerous creatures - "

"Unfortunately, Mr. Potter," cut in Dumbledore, ignoring the scowl that Harry sent in his direction, "a Basilisk is a Class XXXXX dangerous creature and the cost of hiring a team that could deal with one would not only be exorbitant and way beyond the school's budget but would also take a significant amount of time to arrange, during which time the students would be in considerable danger."

"It's Black-Potter, sir, please remember that," snapped Harry irritably before calming himself and carrying on. "I also believe that I may know of a group that have dealt with similar creatures before and could, perhaps, be convinced to take this on pro-bono and almost immediately." McGonagall's eyes brightened with hope. "With one or two caveats of course," Harry added with just the slightest of smiles. McGonagall motioned for him to continue, while Neville, who had seen that small smile before and knew it usually preceded a plan that would normally end in detention or expulsion and in this instance could probably end in potential death or dismemberment by an ancient magical beast, tried to shrink into the background.

"Well," continued Harry at McGonagall's prompting, "the Higgins Security Group is, as you are aware, a well trained and outfitted group - "

"I thought they were all away on work?" interrupted Dumbledore.

"No, just the magical members," Harry replied idly, "and for this particular job, from what I gathered of their stories over the summer and my admittedly basic knowledge of Basilisks, magic doesn't help a huge amount in combatting one of these things so the guys could probably do it this evening or tomorrow morning."

"What do you mean magic wouldn't help?" asked a rather confused Neville. "And besides, I thought Muggles couldn't see magic?"

"Well, and correct me if I'm wrong, Professor Hagrid," Harry began his explanation and earning a nod from the half-giant, "a Basilisk's skin is pretty much impervious to spells, including the Unforgivables, so spell-fire does less than nothing. A 50-cal on the other hand…" he trailed off and grinned. After a moment of nothing but blank faces, he sighed at their ignorance and began outlining the joys of high-calibre weapons. "A 50 calibre weapon is a Muggle weapon that fires a projectile half an inch wide faster than the speed of sound towards it's target and cause a significant amount of damage when they strike. Yes," he admitted, waving down McGonagall's skeptical look, "the skin will be mostly impervious to weapons as well, but they have a much higher rate of fire than most wizards and so a better chance of finding weak spots."

"As to your second question," Harry continued, "normally you'd be right, Muggles can't see magic, but because of the nature of the Higgins Group's work, they developed a rune-scheme that allows the non-magical members to see what they normally couldn't. It counters the effect of Muggle-Repelling Wards too, kind of like a set of Ward-Breaker's glasses, only for magic and with a bit of extra kick."

"I'm not so sure this is a good idea, my boy," Dumbledore said, opting to avoid calling him 'Potter' at least for the time being.

"Surely if they can do it for free then we should at least consider the offer, Headmaster?" Came McGonagall's input. The Headmaster hummed a moment before nodding hesitantly.

"Are you sure they would be willing to do this, Harry? For no charge?" Harry thought about it, before carefully nodding.

"I can't promise anything without discussing it with them first, but I would think that they may have a few caveats, the first of which would be complete ownership of the corpse, but otherwise, I can't see it being a problem." Hagrid seemed to visibly deflate and to be on the verge of tears at the thought of the creature dying.

Dumbledore turned to his Deputy to engage in a silent conversation that ended abruptly with an expression on McGonagall's face that seemed to say, _If you don't at least meet with these people, you're an idiot._

"Very well then, Harry," the Headmaster agreed, "if you can ask one of them to come up and discuss the matter with me, I believe this could be beneficial to all of us." _Brilliant! _he thought to himself, _Finally a way I can ingrain myself in the boy's life!_

_Oh crap._ Thought McGonagall, recognising what she had begun to label as 'That Harry Black-Potter' feeling of impending doom.

"Just before we leave though, can you try closing the entrance again?" asked Dumbledore, hoping that he wouldn't have to work out how to contain the threat to the bathroom.

Harry shrugged and walked towards the sink, looking at the snake carving again.

"How about now? Close." Nothing happened apart from a few intakes of breath from his audience. "What?" he asked, turning back to see shock and surprise on all their faces.

"What was that, Mr. Black-Potter?" asked McGonagall, her voice just a little strained. Harry looked around at the rest of them rather uncertainly.

"I just said 'How about now?' and then 'Close'," he replied. "I figured that if it opened when I said 'open', then closing would be something equally simple."

"I believe," interjected Dumbledore, "that Minerva was asking what language you used." Harry looked at him as if he'd finally taken a swan dive off the Boat of Lucidity and into the Lake of Senility and had started swimming for the bottom.

"English." Neville shook his head.

"That wasn't English, mate," he said quietly. "That was a bunch of hissing."

"Parseltongue," corrected the Headmaster, his eyes twinkling away again at discovering yet one more thing of Harry's that could be considered 'the power the Dark Lord knows not' before dying out as he remembered that Voldemort had been quite open about his ability.

"Oh," Harry gave a shrug, "Cool." Neville's eyes bulged at the nonchalant acceptance of an ability that so many people considered Dark with a capital D, then realised that this was Harry Black-Potter and therefore not completely unsurprising. "Either way, it didn't work."

"Indeed not," McGonagall noted wryly, also noting that the unusual seemed to orbit around Harry like a chaos spewing moon.

"Right then, Minerva," the Headmaster clapped his hands and smiled at them all, "If you would be so kind as to transfigure us a temporary doorway to prevent either the beast from exiting or any wayward students from entering the Chamber? Fantastic! Harry, could you please contact your team and we can get this whole polava sorted as soon as possible?"

And so, ten minutes later, Harry found himself sending an owl to the Higgins Cottage in Hogsmeade where the remaining team members were kicking their heels and trying not to bemoan their status as Muggles in a magical world.

_All,_

_Basilisk discovered in Hogwarts, unknown size, likely 800 years plus - can we get an animal disposal team together with those left and a representative here to discuss terms with Headmaster Dumbledore ASAP?_

_Harry_

He re-read it quickly. Short and to the point, just they way they would want it. He waited for the reply, knowing it would be just as brief but also very quick. He was right, fifteen minutes later, the owl returned with a small piece of parchment tied to its leg.

_Harry,_

_Team coming together now. Sophia Yavit en route to discuss terms ETA 5 minutes._

_DC_

Harry gave a grim smile and began making his way rapidly down towards the entrance hall to meet the Israeli mercenary, arriving just as she did, the square faced, heavy set mercenary breath coming a little heavily from her rapid journey up the hill from the village.

"Talk and walk!" she commanded and Harry turned immediately for the Headmaster's office, outlining the discovery and the circumstances leading up to it, continuing up the his sending the letter to the HSG's cottage and his ability to speak Parseltongue. Harry gave the password to the gargoyle, leading the way up the moving staircase.

Harry kept his small feeling of satisfaction hidden as Dumbledore and the mercenary began their preliminary negotiations, the old man trying to convince them to do it for free and let him keep the carcass, only to be shot down by the blunt-talking Israeli who was the Higgins' resident expert on animals both magical and mundane. Perhaps the best part as far as Harry was concerned was when Sophia insisted that Harry accompany them on their search of the tunnels. He had asked that she put the idea forwards on their walk up and when he had explained his logic, she had been remarkably receptive.

"The boy will be vital," stated Sophia flatly at Dumbledore's complaints and worries over the danger. "He speaks Parseltongue and that ability alone would be of benefit. He has also been into the tunnels and has trained extensively with us, knows our movements and has his own armour that is currently being retrofitted for combatting such a creature."

Again, Harry was surprised at how easily the old man capitulated and soon enough found himself leading Sophia towards an old unused classroom adjacent to the girl's toilets that had been set aside for their use.

In the Headmaster's study, meanwhile, another conversation was taking place. "Sometimes, Dumbledore, even you manage to amaze me," the Sorting Hat commented idly from his stand. The old wizard turned his gaze on to the artefact, which continued in an almost bored tone of voice. "Which particular blow to the head you have received in your many, many, many, many, many - "

"Yes, thank you, Hat!" Dumbledore cut it off, wondering if it actually had a point.

"MANY years," continued the Hat, "led you to think that allowing a thirteen year old boy to fight a thousand year old Basilisk with a bunch of Muggles was a good idea?"

Dumbledore's mouth dropped open as he realised what he had just done before clicking closed again. He really hated it when the Hat pointed these things out to him, certain that it hadn't been this difficult over a hundred years ago when he had set his sights on being the Champion of the Greater Good. Besides, his plan seemed sound: give the boy what he wants so he viewed Dumbledore in a favourable light and then start breaking him away from the Black family. Simple. Besides, the snake was probably dead anyway. Maybe. Harry would be fine. Probably. Oh Merlin, this was all so confusing.

* * *

**Hogwarts Strike Team, Codename: Mongoose, Pre-deployment**

"Ready?" Sophia's voice crackled over their headsets and Harry directed his eyes towards the green box in the top right hand side of the heads-up-display inside his helmet that would pass an affirmative back to the team leader. Sometimes, he decided, it was really better not to ask what the HSG guys had done to have something like their current get up ready within a moment's notice.

They were all dressed in Dragonhide armour etched with protective runes. None of them were under any particular illusion that it would stop a Basilisk's bite, but were they to suffer a cave in or other such mishap, then it would stop them from being crushed alive. The real protection came from the modified helmets. The mirrored visors were specially treated to black out completely should a certain set of parameters be met, in this case the visual identification of a live Basilisk and also had a secondary, solid, visor that could be physically pulled down by the operator. At that point, infrared and regular cameras mounted high on the chest plates of the suits would synch with the cameras mounted to their weapons and relay images to the inside of the HUD, meaning that the occupant could still see what was going on without making direct eye contact with anything. Harry had no idea what effect a Basilisk's lethal gaze would have on the cameras or the person, but it was better than 'definitely dead' which would be the result without it.

Strapped to their backs were the close quarters and secondary weapons each person preferred and Harry shrugged his shoulders, feeling the comforting weight of the rune-carved, goblin-silver swords had been returned to him for the mission. Each of them also held variants of the .50 calibre assault rifle that the Higgins Group had had specially made that looked like oversized M-16s, only bigger and angrier, and had the annoying effect of making normal sized people look like kids playing with grown up weapons. The only exception to this was Ian Coffer. Harry had made a double-take when he saw the ex-Marine heft his weapon of choice: a belt fed machine gun that looked like it had been torn from the top of a tank.

With each of them indicating their readiness, they moved to the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, waiting patiently as Dumbledore reversed McGonagall's transfigured bars that had been blocking the toilet doors.

"Now," the Headmaster began pompously, unable to see the irritation on all of their faces at being delayed through the mirrored visors. "All of the students are in the Great Hall for dinner and will remain there to ensure their safety under Deputy-Headmistress McGonagall's supervision. I will remain with your team-mate - Mr. Drascoe?" He checked the name and earning a nod from Sophia to confirm the identity of the man who would be monitoring the sensors and video feeds from their suits on a specially warded to work around magic and transportable set of computer screens in battered, heavy duty cases and acting as 'Mother' for their exploration. "Excellent, I shall be with Mr. Drascoe should anything occur that requires my input. Now are you sure you wouldn't like me with you?"

"No, Mr. Dumbledore," Sophia's voice came out of the small speaker by her mouth. "We've trained together and know each other's movements. Skilled as you are, you would only get in our way and be another potential casualty." Switching to the inter-suit comms system, she spoke again. "And having a kid on a mission like this is bad enough, an OAP suffering from dementia would be worse." Various chuckles went around the comms set and Harry gave a good-natured protest at the disparagement. "In all seriousness, we go in, locate the creature and take it out. Eyes are the primary target, get them if you can but anything goes - we take this thing down hard and fast, clear?"

"Clear," crackled back from Harry and the other four members of the team.

"Harry, you attempt to speak to the creature and if that fails, fall back immediately to the entrance and remain there until we return. DO NOT ENGAGE, do I make myself clear?" The seriousness in her voice was evident even through the comms set and Harry was quick to agree.

"Okay, let's move."

They each took it in turns to slide down the tunnel to the Chamber below, fanning out and covering the shadows as torches attached to their helmets stabbed into the darkness as they conducted a test of their communications systems with each other and 'mother'.

"That way." Harry pointed the direction they had explored earlier and they began to move off, the last man cracking a glow stick that was dropped by the entrance to the tunnel. While each suit's internal computer spoke to the others and utilised TV and thermal imaging as well as rudimentary radar to create a map of their surroundings, the mercenaries worked on the presumption that one could never be too careful when dealing with thousand year old magical uber-predators and so continued to drop glow sticks every so often to mark their way back.

"This is where we stopped last time," Harry announced as they reached the shed skin.

"Roger," acknowledged Sophia. "Mother, how's the image and sound?"

"_You are loud and clear, Mongoose One. Interference on the cameras, but we're working on it,"_ Kevin Drascoe's voice came out with only a faint crackle on all their headsets, prompting a thumbs up from each of them to show they had heard the transmission as well.

"Roger, Mother, you are loud and clear also. Moving on with exploration; let us know if the image gets worse or sound deteriorates."

A squelch of agreement came back across the headsets as the small group began to move out again, weapons raised and ready, all of them scanning the darkness around them.

* * *

**Overwatch, Codename Mother**

"Your wards are interfering with our systems," muttered Kevin Driscoe in answer to the Headmaster's question about why it appeared to be snowing in the tunnels below. "It isn't snow, it's static. You have control of the ward scheme here?"

"I'm the Headmaster," Dumbledore replied genially, fully expecting the ignorance of a Muggle soldier when it came to matters of magic, "Of course I have control of them."

"Alright, focus on the bond you have with them. I assume you are familiar with the Kvengold Interpretation?" he asked, referred to the basic system that Swedish wizard Jurgen Kvengold had developed to visualise ward schemes in the fifth century which was still used today.

"Of course… wait, how do you - "

"Doesn't matter," Kevin cut him off, trying to squint through the static to see what was going on beneath them. "Right now, the castle wards and enchantments are interfering with the communication system that is keeping my team safe, I need you to focus on your bond with them and splice your enchantments with the signal from the guys below. It should look like a gold string or rope stretching from here to the team."

Swallowing his curiosity and assuming that the man was a Squib to know such things, Dumbledore did so, intertwining the thin gold thread into the much larger patchwork fabric that made up the various Hogwarts schemes.

* * *

**Mongoose Team, Entrance to Chamber**

Sophia raised her hand to call a halt as everyone took in the impressive sight before them.

"Mother, you read me?" Sophia's call was answered positively and quickly. "You see what I see?" Another answer in the affirmative. "Good, deploying Eyes." She waved her hand at the team who immediately dispersed in two pairs, one covering while the other placed several small cameras coated with adhesive as high as they could be thrown up the pillars while Harry and Sophia covered them from the entrance.

Harry closed his eyes, focusing on his magic reaching out and trying to feel the presence of anything else other than the soldiers around him. He gave a grim smile of satisfaction. The chamber itself seemed to glow, the enchantments on the walls giving off a faint silvery light against the dark shadows of the base stone, allowing him to see, with a little concentration, better with his eyes closed than with them open. The soldiers were also glowing, the defensive wards of their suits highlighting them in dark blues and light greens. At the far end, a sickly green and yellow scheme writhed around a gigantic statue that Harry assumed was Slytherin himself.

"You see anything, Six?" Sophia asked, referring to Harry's designation for this mission.

"Statue at the end, different markings. If the Basilisk is anywhere, it's around there," he replied.

"Okay, all callsigns, confirm cameras are placed?" Two squelches came back as the two pairs of soldiers took up position in a line across the chamber half-way between the statue and the entrance, Sofia and Harry moving forwards to join them. "Mother, you got visual?"

"_A-firm, Mongoose One,"_ came the reply. "_Sound and sight is clear, mission go from my end."_

Sophia sent a squelch back and the six of them advanced in a line on her order, weapons raised and pointing at the statue that towered at the far end of the chamber, splashing through the puddles of stagnant water. They paused at the foot, staring up into the shadows above them.

"Any ideas, Six?" Harry gazed upwards, once again closing his eyes and focusing on the flows of magic around them. The majority of the enchantments were on the statue's head, the yellows and greens spiraling out from around the closed mouth. At first, Harry had thought they were moving, twisting around the statue as the wards reacted to the slightest change in the currents of magic around them; now closer, he realised that the effect of movement was something else. Behind the wards, something was moving. A darkness flecked with silver-grey, the occasional flash of dull yellow that from a distance would have blended with the yellow of the wards.

"It's there," Harry confirmed. "Behind the mouth, some sort of password holding it back at the moment."

"Can you break it?" Harry looked closer, straining to see the phrase that had been built in to activate the enchantments on the statue, repeated over and over within each strand of magic. Normally, a password sealed rune-scheme or enchantment wouldn't have the password itself coded into the magic in such a manner but with the possibility that whoever needed to activate the ward wouldn't know it, this actually made sense and using Parseltongue added another layer of security to prevent just anyone from coming in and opening it up.

He groaned as he deciphered the string of unbroken letters and formed them into a coherent sentence. _Oh Sally, you arrogant bastard._ Harry thought to himself. "I can open it," he confirmed.

"Visors down." Each member raised a hand to their head.

"_Stand by, Mongoose - "_ Their radios crackled to life, causing them all to freeze, hands snapping back to weapons, but before Kevin could finish, a sudden flare of light behind them had each of them spinning, fingers depressing triggers, half-inch wide bullets flashing from muzzles to slam into the new arrival. There was a sudden burst of flames and then nothing apart from a ringing silence as the echo of the gunfire faded away to the tinkling of spent cartridge cases and a small pile of ash drifted to the floor.

"Aw crap." Harry muttered and was the only one to lower his weapon.

"What the _fuck_ was that?!" demanded Darren angrily.

"_Sorry, Mongoose, Headmaster thought he'd send in some reinforcements, didn't give me time to give a proper heads up."_ Even over the comms set they could tell Kevin was just a teensy bit irritated at Dumbledore's dabbling. "_Nill further interference expected."_

"Explain!" The word was bitten out by a very angry Sophia.

"We just iced the Headmaster's Phoenix." Harry provided, moving forwards and scooping up what appeared to be a small, bald, very ugly chicken that had poked it's head from the pile of ash and glared blearily at them before burying its head back in the ash. "Sorry, buddy," he muttered, cancelling his communicator, "we're all a touch edgy." He tucked the re-hatched Phoenix into the front pocket of his suit and turned back to the rest of the team.

"Tell that old fool to stop interfering!" snarled Sophia.

"_He heard you, Mongoose One. Message received."_

"Fuckin' amateurs," growled Alice Kettering, earning murmurs of agreement from the rest as they turned back to the statue.

"Quiet on the comms!" snapped Sophia. "Visors down." She checked to ensure her order had been followed before following suit. "Ok, Six, do your thing."

Harry took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he looked around, taking a moment to get used to the different sight that was now projected into the himself to the slightly lower viewpoint that the cameras provided. He stepped forwards.

"Speak to me, Salazar, greatest of the Hogwarts Four." Nothing.

"Really?" came the dubious voice of Ian Coffer, still training his oversized weapon on the head of the statue. "Bit full of himself, this lad, wasn't he?" Harry felt a blush creeping up his face and was glad that the helmet prevented the others from seeing his embarrassment even as the Marine echoed his thoughts from earlier.

"Wait, was that English or Parseltongue?" asked Harry.

"English!" came the reply from several voices. He took another steadying breath, focusing now on the snake carvings, trying to imagine them as real serpents before trying again.

With a rumble and grinding of shifting stone, the mouth of the statue opened.

* * *

**Overwatch, Moments earlier**

Kevin barely spared a glance to the Patronus as it burst through the wall and approached the Headmaster, who had irritated the tech expert since his arrival, leaning over him and asking questions about how their equipment worked while Kevin was trying to focus on supervising the team below.

"_Headmaster!"_ came the voice of the crotchety Scots-woman who had shown them up here when they arrived. "_Something's gone wrong with the enchantment on the ceiling of the Great Hall, please come quickly!" _

As Dumbledore turned to leave, Kevin's arm snapped out and caught hold of his sleeve.

"Do not," Kevin said, voice deadly serious. "Even think about changing the link between me and my team - it could kill them and then the group _will_ kill you. Clear?"

"Of course, my boy," the Headmaster promised, gently but firmly removing the offending hand from his robes as Kevin turned back to watch as the team moved towards the statue, listening as Sophia instructed them to close their visors. "I shall send them some assistance as well. Fawkes!" There was a flash of fire and the bird settled on his shoulder. "I believe young Harry could use your help. If you would be so kind?"

"Wait!" The cry from the mercenary came too late as the phoenix disappeared again. "Dammit!" He quickly toggled the communicator, "Standby, Mongoose - " There was a loud burst of gunfire that could be heard over the speakers and Dumbledore flinched as he watched his familiar disappear in a burst of fire and .50-calibre bullets on the screens in front of him.

"Oh dear," muttered the Headmaster to himself as Kevin explained to the mercenary team below. "Fawkes will be most upset with me."

Sophia's "_Tell that old fool to stop interfering!"_ came out loud and clear over and Dumbledore at least had the decency to blush at Kevin's scowl in his direction and the stream of profanities that followed him as he left the room and began striding towards the Great Hall.

When Dumbledore arrived, the usual semi-chaos of Hogwarts meal time now strangely silent, almost everyone staring up at the ceiling in wonder. The vast dome that normally displayed the sky outside now showed something completely different. The video feed from the six suit cameras that Dumbledore had been watching with Kevin on small, individual screens was replicated in all its splendour and magnified many times over for all the students to see, their voices coming out somewhat crackled but still perfectly understandable. Around the six central suit feeds were the other views from the various cameras that had been placed around the Chamber, providing a multitude of view-points for student and staff member alike. One or two of them glanced at him with flickers of amusement at having seen the latest developments as the rest kept their focus firmly on the events unfolding on the ceiling above them.

"Oh dear," muttered Dumbledore to himself as he watched, completely at a loss, Kevin's threat of being forced to learn how to skip over his own entrails by the remaining mercenaries if he tried to interfere with the video feed ringing loudly in his ears.

* * *

**Chamber of Secrets**

There was a prolonged silence after the mouth had fully opened, the five soldiers and Harry finding their hearts beating faster, sweat trickling itchy pathways across their skin as they waited. And then it came. A long, drawn out hiss.

"_**Huuungrrry...**_"

_Here goes nothing,_ Harry thought to himself as he focused on speaking Parseltongue, keeping his team communicator on. "_Speak to me, creature, we mean you no harm._" Sure, he was lying, but if he could trick a thousand year old Basilisk into coming out with its eyes closed so they could kill it nice and easily then he reckoned he'd give Pinocchio a run for his money. There was another long pause before...

"_**You arrre not the masssssterrrr!**_"

"Oh shit."

"_**Mmm, fressshhh meeeaaattt!**_"

"Double-shit. Fall back!" The soldiers began to move carefully backwards, weapons still pointed and ready. Harry ignored the IR and TV images from his suit, instead shutting his eyes and focusing on the flows of magical energy around him.

The snake was a dark, inky green stain against the brighter yellows and greens of the enchantments of the statue, its scales highlighted faintly with silver, eyes glowing a searing, painful yellow that had Harry nearly vomiting. He opened fire at the same time as the mercenaries, .50 cal rounds slamming the rifles into their shoulders and spitting out rounds towards the twisting serpent as it made its way to the floor of the Chamber.

"Six, fall back! NOW!" Sophia's barked order prompted Harry to spin and sprint towards the end of the hall before turning and covering their retreat, the serpent's wordless hissing loud enough to war with the deafening gunfire. Just as he reached the tunnel that would lead them back to the toilets, he heard another cry. "Dammit, Three, check your fire!" Pete Sterridge, currently filling the role of Mongoose Three, was standing still, firing a continuous stream that was going high over the head of the serpent, high powered shells blasting chunks of masonry from the ancient statue. There was no response.

"_Vitals are good,"_ came Kevin's assessment over the now edgy calls from the others.

"It's the eyes!" Harry shouted, realising what had happened.

"Popping smoke!" Sophia's voice rang out against the gunfire as the serpent reached the ground and twisted to one side, seeking cover from the gunfire behind the supporting pillars, hissing angry insults at the pieces of meat that were ineffectually stinging away at it. Thick smoke began billowing from first one, then two, three, canisters, obscuring the snake from their regular cameras while still having it visual on their infrared as a slightly lighter blue against the darker, colder stone and blocking its lethal gaze.

"_Accio Pete!_" Harry cried, summoning the frozen mercenary to the relative safety of the tunnel entrance, propping him up still in his firing position against the wall, gun now jammed empty. Harry began firing again, once again opting for eyes closed, trying to ignore the nausea and aiming for the snake's eyes as it twisted between columns, darting faster than he would have thought possible across the hall. A coil of steel-hard muscle slammed into Ian Coffer, sending the large mercenary sliding across the floor to stop with a crunch and a groan at the base of one of the pillars, his over-sized weapon crushed under the bulk of the rampaging serpent.

It turned, darting back behind the pillars, streaking along the ground towards Harry's end of the chamber, his feeling of sickness increasing as the putrid yellow eyes began to get closer. He pulled the trigger, bullets flicking out of the barrel and barely making a dent in the ancient beast. The jaws opened, exposing ridiculously large teeth that Harry could have sworn were dripping venom. He fired into its mouth, hoping against hope that he would hit a vital point in the softer, unprotected flesh.

Moments before it could close its jaws around Harry and with a screech of anger, the snake twisted, turning on the remaining mercenaries in the centre of the hall, pausing to glare ineffectually at them through the obscuring smoke before it began a slow, sinuous advance.

"Take cover!" Harry called a warning to the mercenaries, "It's coming straight for you!" They scattered to different sides of the hall and Harry seized his opportunity, slinging his rifle and running alongside the coil near the Basilisk's head and launching himself up onto its back. The modified Sticking Charms on his boots and gloves letting him crawl quickly forwards along the still advancing snake.

"Six, what the _fuck_ are you doing?!" the angry question came from an unidentified voice just as Harry reached his head. He grunted and ignored the question, reaching up to grasp the handle of one of his swords, drawing it in one fluid movement before slamming it up to the hilt in the snake's right eye.

"Oh fuck!" Harry's panicked cry was prompted as the snake screamed in rage and pain, tossing its head violently to rid itself of its unwanted passenger. That was when Harry realised that yes, Sticking Charms are fantastic and yes, they will let you climb along the top of a giant moving Basilisk, but by stabbing said Basilisk in the eye and having it writhe around like a worm with fifty thousand volts running through it, Harry discovered that Sticking Charms are not, in fact, infallible. By the time the words had left Harry's mouth, he was thrown free from the snake's head, flying through the air.

* * *

**Great Hall**

Everyone, even Ron Weasley, had dragged their attention from the sumptuous Hogwarts meal to watch open mouthed as the battle unfolded on the ceiling above them. There were screams as the first soldier froze, his cameras dying instantly as the beast's gaze connected with them. Dumbledore had gotten as far as the staff table but could still only stare dumbfounded at the ceiling with absolutely no idea what to do. His three day course on '_How to be the Leader of the Light'_ for the bargain price of twelve Galleons had definitely not covered this!

"DUMBLEDORE!" the angry cry came from the doorway, snapping the attention of several people away from the drama playing out above them. A middle-aged wizard with dark hair, several days worth of stubble and _very_ angry dark eyes was striding through the entrance, his menacing image only furthered by the clearly recent damage to the battle-robes he was wearing and the scabbed but fresh cut running across his cheek. "Where is he, old man?"

In any other circumstances, this show of disrespect would have prompted several gasps of shock and an attentive audience from the student body, but this time they just found themselves wishing that these two dramas weren't playing out at the same time.

"Ah, Sirius… um…" Dumbledore wondered exactly how he was supposed to tell an angry Hit Wizard that in just the last week, his charge had left the school after threatening two fellow students, chased after a terrorist group who kidnapped and subsequently killed his girlfriend, nearly died, summoned Fiendfyre, nearly died again, used a borderline Dark curse on two people, killed his newly Inferius-ed girlfriend, was probably suffering from post-traumatic stress, was a newly discovered medical phenomenon, had discovered an long-forgotten chamber within the bowels of the school and had now, with the Headmaster's permission, gone off to fight a thousand year old Basilisk. There really wasn't a word from that.

"Hello!" tried the Headmaster, giving a nervous little wave.

"Where. Is. He?" Sirius bit off as he advance, magic leaking from him with the force of his emotions, sparks of it dancing from the end of his hair and down his robes to skitter across the floor as the air around him thickened.

"Now, Sirius, my boy - "

Sirius' face went red with anger as he bellowed at Dumbledore, "WHERE. IS. MY. SON?!" There was a long and very uncomfortable silence.

"Umm…" Dumbledore was still struggling with what to say. In the end, he just pointed one finger up towards the ceiling. Sirius looked up and all colour drained from his face. He felt his heart pounding too loudly in his ears, blocking out all other noise as he recognised the segmented view of a Higgins team's camera feed. The serpent projected onto the ceiling above them was incomprehensibly huge and even without the names of the soldiers being displayed he knew, without a shadow of a doubt that his godson, no his _son_, was the figure climbing on the things back.

Everything came flooding back to him. The fear, anger, hatred he had felt as he had apparated to Godric's Hollow that night in '81, knowing he would be too late as he stalked the ruins of his best friend's home, crashing back as he watched the same friend's son, a boy he loved more than anything else in the world, crawling along the back of a damned Basilisk.

* * *

**Chamber of Secrets**

Sophia Yavit liked to think that she had seen a fairly wide range of things that would make most people have a nervous break down or would consider impossible. She had been called up for National Service with the Israeli military, serving in the Oketz, a canine unit associated with the Special Forces. She had moved on to a brief though thoroughly enjoyable career with Mossad and was considered by herself and others as both skilled and experienced. And then at the tender age of thirty-two, she had been assigned to work with a team of very unusual mercenaries who had been recruited for a rather special problem involving a serial killer who was targeting men who used prostitutes. Turned out it was a Succubus and thus Sophia was introduced to this hidden world of magic and the seriously strange. Three weeks and one dead Succubus later, she had resigned her post with Mossad and began work with the Higgins Group and had spent the past seven years with them as their go-to person for all things animal.

In all her years, however, she had never imagined what she was seeing before her today. For starters, the snake that had emerged from the mouth of the old statue was significantly larger than any of them had anticipated. Secondly, the young boy who they had all become rather fond of and whose voracious appetite for both training and learning had impressed them all, had crawled up on top of a gigantic snake that had already incapacitated two of her team and stabbed the thing in the eye. Thirteen or not, she was buying that kid a beer. Provided, of course, they all survived. And then she was going to give him a slap for not escaping when she had told him to.

Quite understandably, the snake went wild and bucked Harry loose in seconds. Before any of them could even think of what to do or register anything other than Harry's final cry of "Oh fuck!" the beast's head snapped forwards and swallowed him head first.

* * *

_A/N: Well, as always, if you enjoyed it please leave a review! Also, for the eagle-eyed amongst you, I realise I ballsed up and called Harry's swords goblin-steel when you first saw them, my bad, should have been goblin-silver._

_And no, I'm not sorry for leaving it here but I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any particular theories as to if/how Harry is going to survive, then by all means PM me, if not, 'till next time._

_YA_

_Notsoancientmariner._


	21. Chapter 21

_A/N: Hey all! Sorry for leaving it where I did last time, here you go with the next lot - there's also an Omake and a fairly important (ish) AN at the end. For now though, thanks for reading and all the reviews please keep them coming! Special thanks to Andor Swiftblade and my brother for Beta-ing and to Cateagle for inspiring the scene with Snape._

_I also feel the need to mention that the case of Bell vs State was inspired by the story Harry Potter and the Psychic Serpent (I couldn't remember where I'd seen it when I was writing). Well worth checking out as it's a great story and very well written, thanks to Mentally Impaired for reminding me._

_For anyone who was wondering, I still don't own Harry Potter. I just checked._

* * *

_Before any of them could even think of what to do, or register anything other than Harry's final cry of "Oh fuck!", the beast's head snapped forwards and swallowed him head first._

* * *

Lily had once said to Sirius that all he really needed was a target, something to focus the anger and hatred that had built up in the young man from the treatment he had received at the hands of his family, an outlet that would funnel the rage and pain into something else. Dumbledore had recognised this as well, pointing him towards the Death Eaters during Voldemort's rise, his path going via the Auror Corps. Since then, he had had Harry.

Raising the boy had stopped Sirius from indulging the darkness inside him, smothering the rage and hatred. It hadn't taken long after Lily and James had moved on before Sirius began to view Harry as his son in all but blood, Arcturus' offer of sanctioning the adoption was merely a formal recognition of something anyone who had seen the two together would already have picked up on.

Now Harry was in danger. Sirius had returned from a successful - if slightly trickier - mission than he had expected, taking on a rising Dark Wizard in Northern Ireland, only to hear that his twisted cousin and a man he had once considered a close friend had struck against the one thing Sirius held above all else. He had abandoned his de-brief, Apparating directly to Hogsmeade near the boundary of the castle's wards and now he found… this.

He ran faster than he ever had before. His hand had snapped out and grabbed Dumbledore by the throat, surprise and uncertainty stopping the old man from trying to do anything other than gurgle. His barked "Where?" had been answered by McGonagall and now he had a target. The second floor girl's bathroom.

He had been in his Animagus form within the first stride and was a dark streak of movement by the next.

_Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry_! he begged, his claws scratching against the stone, skidding as he turned into the bathroom, transforming as he dived headfirst down the still open tunnel.

* * *

When Harry's feet disappeared from view, there was the briefest of pauses. Sophia could only gaze in horror as she saw the young boy disappear into the mouth of the giant Basilisk, knowing there was no escape from that particular fate. Her howl of rage broke them all from their reverie and was joined by the others as they renewed their onslaught with fervour bordering on the fanaticism, bullets slamming into the creature's head. One of them must have hit something vital and it began to twist spastically, violently lashing and coiling on itself, a Gordian knot of thick muscle and impenetrable scales that threatened to crush them and forced them behind cover again.

Sophia crouched, knees drawn up and back against the column, cradling her rifle like a baby as she stared blankly at the inside of her helmet. And then everything went quiet. She could hear the sobs of Alice Kettering over an open comms circuit, the quiet, bitter cursing from Darren Carter who would never admit to being affected by anything. But no thrashing of Basilisk against stone.

"_Nil signals from Six,"_ the quiet voice of Kevin came through on her personal line. "_Five is down but stable. Target isn't moving. Believe neutralised. "_

* * *

**Great Hall**

"People shouldn't be watching this!" Fred muttered angrily to his brother as Sirius entered the Great Hall. Despite their well-known fun loving nature, the twins could also (at least most of the time) recognise that there was a time and a place for pranking. There was also a time and a place for watching something like this - that was a Muggle cinema with actors who were getting paid a ridiculous amount and weren't in any danger. Having the entire school watch as their friend potentially died didn't sit particularly well with either of them.

George shook his head in agreement. "Too true, brother of mine." He rolled a small package in his fingers, drawing Fred's attention. There was a terse nod in response.

"Each corner of the hall should do it," Fred confirmed.

"What about the sound?" Lee asked, leaning forwards to join the conversation.

"A Muffliato Charm would do it," said Susan Shaw who had been eavesdropping un-noticed. The boys glanced warily at her and she shrugged. "I owe Harry a favour after he took care of that Boil Curse, this wouldn't even square us. You guys darken the ceiling and I'll kill the sound."

The three of them carried out a brief, silent conversation before nodding. Fred took her hand, opening it palm open and pouring a small amount of dark powder very carefully into her hand. It was light, almost unnoticeable in weight, but clearly magical as where small flecks of it were blown by the slightest of winds in the hall, shadows seemed to absorb all light, blacking out everything behind it.

"As soon as you see us in the far corners, throw this into the air," George explained.

"Then cast your spell, okay?" Fred added. When Susan nodded seriously, Lee and the twins shot off to different corners of the Hall, ignored by the rest of the students still enthralled with the drama playing out above them.

Within moments the boys were in place, giving nods in Susan's direction to show their readiness. She drew her wand with her spare hand, launching the cloud of dust into the air as she cast her spell. By the time the word was out of her mouth, the darkness from the handful of powder was spreading rapidly and had soon cut off the view of the domed ceiling. The last thing anyone heard before the noise was drowned out with an indecipherable buzzing was Harry's clear "_Oh fuck!_" just as he was swallowed.

* * *

**Chamber of Secrets**

Sophia took a steadying breath, gritting her teeth and pushing herself to her feet. "Four, pull yourself together or get off the comms." Even to her own ears, Sophia's voice was flat, numb at what they had just witnessed. "Two, take it off the air." She heard them acknowledge as she slipped a fresh magazine into her rifle, ignoring the tear that trickled untouchable down her cheek. "Standby to investigate target." Two more acknowledgements followed and she stepped from her cover.

The Basilisk was sprawled across the chamber, parts of it's body still twisted around itself from it's death throes, it's head at an angle, mouth part open and showing rows of viciously sharp, over-sized fangs, lids closed over its ruined eye tilted towards a dark corner of the Chamber, the death stare of the other dimmed to a sickly greyish yellow, lid half closed as it glared balefully at the floor. The three soldiers began advancing carefully, weapons pointed steadily at the gigantic head of the snake.

"_Keep your eyes peeled down there, Mongoose,"_ Kevin's voice instructed them, "_Thermals showed a temperature flare in the target's mouth just before it went mental."_

"Copied," Sophia's brusque acknowledgement accompanied their advance. "Seems cold now - what the hell is that?!" The head was moving. Twitching, more accurately, the eye looking like it was trying to open, bulging out.

They opened fire, short bursts slamming into the closed eyelid and the movement stopped. The soldiers held their breath as they waited for anything further signs of life.

"Guess those .50's did some damage after all," came Darren's bitter observation, pointing at the malformed head where the bones under the skin had been pounded and fractured by their gunfire even while the skin held strong. Splinters of bone joined the growing pile of charred offal beneath the serpent's giant head, leaking from the corner of its gaping mouth as Sophia reached a tentative hand forwards, pushing on the side of its head. "That," he assessed, pointing at the puddle, "is minging.

"Oh that's just… gross!" Alice's assessment of the solitary droplet of something dark seemed to be forcing its way out of the creature's closed eye, lifting the lid at one corner, was not particularly scientific but was reasonably accurate. Just as they thought it would drip and ooze its way down the scales, the drip wiggled.

"What the…" Darren's contribution trailed off as another drip seemed to form next to the first one, forcing its way out. They stared in confusion as the two were joined by a third, then a fourth, a fifth.

"Is that a…" It was. The fingers slowly pushed themselves out of the eye until the hand was visible up to the wrist. It rotated slowly until the palm was facing upwards. Each finger closed until only one was left, pointing directly at the ceiling and quite obviously flipping them a middle finger salute.

Sophia couldn't help herself. She sank to her knees and burst out laughing.

"Nu-uh." Said Darren, voice thick with disbelief bordering on anger. "Not possible. There is no way, _no fucking_ _way_, you can get eaten by a Basilisk and survive. Uh-uh. NOPE. I'm calling bullshit right now."

The arm pushed out a little further, up to the elbow, twisting on itself to push against the lower lid and then it was out to the shoulder. A bulge formed half way up the lid, disappeared, reappeared slightly lower, then the top of a helmet could be seen by the soldiers, then the visor. It looked around, trying to see what was going on through cameras still inside the snake. The hand flicked out, raising the solid screen that had saved most of them from the Basilisk's gaze and they found themselves staring through the toughened glass at the very much alive, if slightly sweaty, face of Harry Black-Potter.

"Well, that sucked a massive bag of dick." Sophia began chuckling in her amazement, unable to think of anything better to do as the figure slumped in exhaustion, one arm and his head now out of the snake's eye, the rest of him caught up in the eye socket. He glared at them all in their amusement. "Any chance of some help?"

"_Er… Mongoose, I now have Six on scanners… Just… What?"_ It seemed that Kevin was equally at a loss as to how to proceed.

As the other soldiers raised their own visors, Darren, still muttering about the impossible absurdity of the situation, grabbed hold of the protruding arm and pulled. With a wet slurping splat and an "Ouch!" Harry emerged like an oversized baby, covered in blood, charred bits of meat and the orbital fluid of one of the most deadly creatures known to wizard kind.

Harry groaned and pushed himself to his feet only to be pulled into an uncomfortably tight hug by Alice and receiving a friendly, if incredulous, slap on the back form Sophia as they began to give the youngest member of their team a once over. His armour was covered in burned chunks of snake meat and blood, the melted remains of the rifle streaked down his back, the sheaths from his swords charred but just about still there. They turned to survey the carcass between them and the entrance to the Chamber.

"Man," Harry began after a moment. "And I thought they smelled bad on the outside!" There was a round of shaky laughter from Sophia and Alice and a scoff of incredulity from Darren as he turned to check on the groaning shape of Ian Coffer.

"_Heads up, Mongoose, fast mover inbound - Padfoot's joining the party."_

_Crap,_ thought Sophia. She liked the young lord well enough, but she knew full well that he would go ballistic at Harry having been in danger. Judging by the expression on Harry's face through the visor, he was equally aware of his Godfather's potential for fury. They turned in time to see the Grim Animagus leap from the tunnel entrance to the chamber, jumping from coil to coil of the dead Basilisk as he made his way towards them.

Sirius transformed the moment his feet touched the floor in front of the small group, ignoring the others as he stared at Harry. Worry, fear, anger, love, relief flitted across his face as his eyes roved over his Godson who stood the inspection with growing nerves.

"Sirius, I - " Harry's attempt at an explanation was cut off by his Godfather's raised hand. Sirius turned to Sophia.

"Leave us. Kill the cameras." Even with her Dragonhide armour, combat helmet and her weapons, Sophia found herself seriously intimidated by the steel in the wizard's eyes as he looked at her. She turned quickly, dragging Alice with her to help Darren carry the injured Ian towards the entrance to collect Pete before they could start making their way back up the tunnel network and towards the bathroom.

Harry took of his helmet to stare defiantly back at his Godfather for a solid fifteen seconds before hanging his head at the look of pain and concern on Sirius' face, knowing that it was his fault it was there. With a sob, Sirius grabbed Harry, pulling him into a hug that threatened even the strength of the armour he was wearing. He pushed Harry back, eyes roving across his face and armour, checking again for any obvious injuries before embracing him again, convincing himself that Harry was alright, that unlike with James and Lily, he had been in time for their son, not caring for the tears of relief that streaked down his face.

It took all of a moment for Harry to lose control. The carefully constructed barriers he had placed around himself since Victoria's death and returning to school broke, the tears flowing as he returned the hug, both drawing comfort from the knowledge that the other was okay, and so long as that was the case, all would be well.

After a long while, the two separated themselves, shaky smiles gracing their tear-streaked faces.

"You look like shit," Harry managed to choke out. Sirius stared at him in shock for a moment before giving a rather weak chuckle.

"You don't look so hot yourself, kiddo." Harry took a moment to look down at himself before joining in with his Godfather's amusement. Shaking his head, Sirius put an arm around Harry's shoulders, pulling him in close as the two began heading back towards the exit to the bathroom.

"So," Sirius began after a moment, "why do you have holes in the legs of your armour?"

Harry took a moment to look down at his legs and spotted the clearly fang-shaped holes his god-father was referring to. "Er… moths?" Sirius slapped the back of his head before returning his hand to Harry's shoulder. "Ouch. Um. Yeah. So… I might have had just a _teensy_-_wincy_ bite from the Basilisk." Sirius froze, slowly turning to stare at Harry, the horror clear in his eyes. "It's fine, really." Harry insisted. "I worked out my Animagus form."

"An Animagus form wouldn't stop the poison," came the flat response, Sirius' level voice belying the anger and concern that he felt rising inside of him. "Explain."

"Well," Harry began, remembering something rather important. "It might also have had something to do with this little guy." He reached into his front pocket, carefully coaxing Fawkes into view. An expression of confusion flickered across Sirius' face.

"Why do you have an ugly, bald, baby chicken in your pocket?" Harry rolled his eyes at his Godfather's perfectly reasonable question.

"This is Fawkes," he replied, prompting a flicker of realisation across Sirius' face.

"Ah."

"Yep."

They continued on in silence for a bit, Fawkes seeming content to remain in Harry's pocket, head poking out of the top flap like a joey watching from its mother's pouch as they walked slowly back up the tunnel.

"So your Animagus form..." Sirius prompted. Harry grinned.

"Oh, you'll like this." He pulled Fawkes from his pocket, eliciting a squawk of protest from the currently baby Phoenix as he passed the immortal bird gently to Sirius who watched bemused as Harry took a few steps away down the corridor. He turned to face his Godfather, focusing on the feeling he had had in the Basilisk's mouth that had prompted his transformation, knowing now why he had only seen fire and smoke when he had tried to discover his form before hand.

There was a long pause as Harry concentrated, an expression of intense focus on his face.

"You look like you're about to shi - _itting death!_" Sirius' attempt at distracting Harry from his transformation failed as Harry suddenly changed, making Sirius jump and nearly drop an indignant Fawkes. After a moment, Harry's new shape shuddered and he resumed his human form, tired from the exertion but grinning none-the-less.

"That is so cool!" his Godfather whispered reverently.

* * *

**Great Hall**

For a brief moment after the darkness spread and the sound failed, chaos ruled. Dumbledore, actually glad that someone had managed to stop the show, took the opportunity to regain a semblance of control over the situation.

Having spotted the culprits, and guessing the cause of the darkness, Dumbledore conjured a wind, gusting around the hall and forcing the powder higher to prevent anyone from seeing the ceiling's display but allowing everything under the height of twelve feet to be visible. Smiling to himself, he noted the animated conversations that had sprung up around the hall the moment everyone could see again, he realised that the spell used to mute the sound, one he vaguely recognised as one of young Severus' creations, was targeted only at the ceiling.

"Headmaster!" He turned to see one of the Slytherin Prefects approaching him looking rather disgruntled at the loss of the evening's entertainment.

"Yes, my boy?"

"What's going on? Why can't we see the ceiling?"

"Well," Dumbledore began, glad to explain the situation to the less cerebrally able students. "It would appear that there was a Basilisk in the recently discovered Chamber of Secrets. Fortunately, we were able to recruit a team of specialists who were able to respond at short notice and ah… dispose of the creature." He smiled benignly back at the prefect. "As to why we can't see the ceiling, it would appear that there has been a certain powder, very interesting stuff actually, more common in Peru though…" he mused, his expression turning wistful as he remembered the blissful fortnight he had spent there nearly a century ago. With a blink, the far-away look disappeared. "Anyway, that powder was used preventing light from shining through. I would assume someone accidentally spilled a rather large amount whilst distracted by the display on the ceiling."

"But can you fix it?" the Prefect asked desperately.

"Why yes, I would imagine so," the Headmaster confirmed with a nod and a self-satisfied smile. "I didn't get to be Headmaster simply because I defeated Gellert Grindelwald you know, I'm actually quite an accomplished wizard." The boy stared back at him as the pause stretched out. Albus blinked. The Prefect blinked. "I'm sorry, was there anything else?"

"Yes!" snapped the Prefect. He was really going to have to write to his father about this, the Headmaster was clearly losing his marbles. "Will you fix the ceiling so we can see what's going on in the Chamber?!" The question and answer session had been loud enough to gain the attention of most of the other students and faculty, all of whom were now waiting with bated breath for Dumbledore's answer.

He reached up and stroked his beard, cupping the elbow of his stroking arm with the hand of the other. He "Hmmm"ed and tapped his lips. "No," he replied after the long moment of consideration, earning a groan of disappointment from the majority of those watching. He smiled in the face of their disappointment. "Now, if you would all be so kind as to return to your seats, I will arrange for a second serving of pudding to keep us all occupied while we wait for confirmation that the beast has been dealt with. I have always found that twice the recommended amount of chocolate bread and butter pudding with custard is a remedy for pretty much everything. Except high cholesterol, of course." He chuckled at his own joke before realising that no one else understood, or if they did, found it funny.

The Headmaster continued smiling in a manner that suggested he knew everything was going exactly according to plan and was incredibly irritating to anyone who had any sort of question about what exactly that was. In actual fact, Dumbledore didn't have a clue as to what was going on and, were it not for the fact that he still felt a very irritated Fawkes at the other end of the connection to his familiar, he would probably have assumed the worst.

"Headmaster!" He groaned inwardly as he was intercepted by yet another student. This one was small. Probably a third year, a Gryffindor going by the robes, possibly wearing a bird's nest on her head going by the hair. He pasted a grandfatherly smile onto his face and set his eyes twinkling, somehow managing to stare at her over the top of his glasses despite the fact that he was over a foot taller than she was.

"That would be me," he admitted.

"Was that Harry Black-Potter in the Chamber?" she asked, staring up at him, the question once again attracting a significant amount of attention.

"And what makes you ask that, my dear?" _Shit,_ thought Dumbledore, _must keep his role hidden to stop this ridiculous popularity he's receiving! He must be downtrodden and willing to sacrifice himself - for the Greater Good!_

"Well, one of those screens said 'Black-Potter, H' in the bottom corner next to the 'Mongoose Six'," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Well I suppose you know what you saw. Maybe someone borrowed his thing with the name on it." Dumbledore supplied with a chuckle. "It would certainly be grossly irresponsible of me to let a thirteen year old to go and fight a Basilisk now, wouldn't it?"

"Well, yes," Hermione agreed, missing the carefully hidden flicker of irritation when she didn't immediately turn and leave the Headmaster alone. "But also, why didn't they have a rooster with them?"

"A what?"

"A rooster," Hermione repeated, "Their crow is supposed to kill Basilisks."

At this, the headmaster let out a genuine, throaty chuckle. "My dear," he said waving his hand dismissively, "that flaw was bred out of the common strain of Basilisks around 400 BC! After all, what kind of Dark Lord would want a grossly over armoured and exceedingly deadly familiar if it could be killed by a common cockerell?" He chortled again at Hermione's expression of shock. "Rooster indeed."

* * *

**Gryffindor Tower**

Harry had started a yawn just as he finished saying the password to the Fat Lady and was still going strong as he stepped through and pulled the portrait closed behind him. He closed his mouth with a click of teeth and then blinked owlishly around the silent common room. Every single pair of eyes from the newest first year to the Head Boy was staring at him.

"Hi," he tried. Silence. He glanced around and a barely repressed smirk was stamped quickly from his face. He took a step to the left. The eyes followed. Then a step to the right. They still followed. "Interesting," Harry muttered. In the background, Neville rolled his eyes and made his way upstairs to the third year's dorm. With a loud clap that seemed to make nearly everyone jump, Harry began striding across the common room. "Night y'all," he drawled, walking as quickly as he could without raising suspicion. He had almost reached the stairs when the first question came out.

"Wait, where are you going?!" He groaned but kept doing his best to close the gap between him and the stairs.

"Bed!" he called out over his shoulder, not bothering to identify the questioner.

"But we have questions for you!" called the unidentified and now slightly perturbed voice.

"Don't care," replied Harry abruptly, breathing a small sigh of relief as he finally reaching the stairs, "Bed."

The next morning, Neville woke up early to go for his run. To his surprise, he found out that Harry was still asleep in his bed.

"Gnuh," was Harry's response to being shaken awake.

"Come on," Neville whispered. "It's time for our run."

Harry opened a single bleary eye. "I killed a thousand year old Basilisk yesterday. I'm having a lie in." Neville stared at him in shock before the words sank in.

"That's…" he considered it for a moment. "Actually completely reasonable," he admitted, before huffing and heading out to meet the girls, who would no doubt already be waiting for him and would pepper him with questions at Harry's absence.

"Wish I'd been fighting a Basilisk yesterday," he grumbled as he made his way down towards the Great Hall.

Harry wasn't there when Neville returned, nor was he in the Great Hall when he got down there for breakfast. He looked around curiously before taking a seat and helping himself to breakfast, scanning the front cover of the Daily Prophet that, much to the editor's disgust, had already been sent for distribution when the first reports of the Basilisk came in. He tuned out the excited chatter about the fight with the serpent and the different theories that were bandied between the students and houses, only looking up when he heard the cry.

"There he is!"

Neville's, and most of the other student's, eyes turned to the main doors. Harry walked past, barely looking in their direction.

"Oi!" called one of elder Gryffindors, earning a frown from McGonagall and exactly no response from the boy he was shouting at. "I said 'Oi!' Har - Oh Merlin's hairy nipples!"

Harry, it turned out, hadn't stayed in bed much longer after Neville had left. Instead, he had headed to the Main Hall, greeting the delegates from Gringotts who had come to harvest the Basilisk corpse. Now, he lead them back there from the Chamber, several pallets that had been wedged under various sections of the snake's body levitating it to make it easier to goblin-handle out of the castle. Purely by chance, of course, the route he chose took them past the Great Hall during the height of breakfast time, allowing eyes to bug and disbelief to be sputtered as the students watched him lead a large group of Goblins who were guiding the chain of interlinked platforms on which the dead Basilisk was carried.

The students watched in amazement as the corpse went by. Even having seen the battle last night, they hadn't truly appreciated the size of the thing and now they could see it, up close and in the cold light of day, there were simply no words they could use to describe their amazement. When the tail finally went past, there was the briefest moment of silence as shocked looks were exchanged, before a sudden rush of movement towards the door to follow the strange procession. They reached the entrance hall where a large crate layered with Undetectable Expansion and Preservation Charms had been placed on its side to make it easier for the team to stuff the creature inside which the Goblins proceeded to do, pushing the corpse in head first.

"We're gonna need a bigger crate," muttered one of the Goblins when the charms failed with only half the snake inside. He glanced at his client. "That should be all, Lord Black-Potter, we can take it from here. The funds from the harvesting will be deposited directly to the accounts you specified." Harry nodded his thanks and headed off for breakfast.

He ignored the open mouthed stares he received as he made his way back to the Great Hall, students having spilled out to watch the snake's departure parting like the Red Sea before Moses. Reaching the hall, he allowed himself the smallest of smiles at having escaped, so far, without receiving a questioning from his fellow students.

Grabbing a seat next to Neville, who had remained in the Great Hall, Harry muttered a "Good morning" and helped himself to a bowl of cereal, munching away in pleasant silence, ignoring the continued curious glances.

"Are you going to answer any of their questions?" Neville tried eventually.

Harry barely even had to think about his answer. "Nope."

"You realise that not answering questions could annoy some people?"

"Of course," Harry agreed. "But considering the last time I explained myself to someone, a ghost tried to drown me in shit and then I ended getting swallowed by a thousand year old death-creature, I really don't feel like seeing what happens after the next round of interrogations."

Neville grinned. "That's probably safest for everyone concerned."

Harry gave a small smile in response.

"So," he changing the subject, much to everyone who had been not so subtly eavesdropping on them's disappointment. "How was your run this morning?"

* * *

**Gryffindor Tower, Thursday afternoon**

"Fred, old boy..." began George, staring at the retreating form of Harry Black-Potter. Their friend really hadn't been the same since the weekend and matters had only been exacerbated by the events in the Chamber the night before and the display of the Basilisk this morning. Just this evening, instead of joining them for a discussion on what their next prank should be, he had joined them briefly before begging off to finish some Charms work.

"Yes, George, old bean?" Fred responded, his eyes following their friend as well.

"I think we should really do something to cheer Harry up, he seems to be in a terrible grump."

"Well," Lee began, joining the conversation "I suppose it _is_ kind of understandable, he did have that whole thing with his girlfriend only a few days ago and I'm pretty sure I saw him get swallowed by a Basilisk last night."

"Details shmetails!" Fred gave an irritated wave. "He's expected to be a little glum, just like we're expected to help him out of his funk." George gave a grim nod of agreement.

"That's what friends do," he stated firmly.

On the far side of the common room, Ron Weasley, who had managed to convince one of the younger years who didn't know any better to play him at wizard's Chess, shivered. He looked around confused, certain that something important had just happened but had no idea as to what. He scowled at his older brothers, chatting away with Lee and Neville. He was the one who should have been best friends with the Boy-Who-Lived, not Neville - the Longbottom boy was practically a Squib!

"Can we not give him a bit of a rest?" Neville tried pleading with the other three in their little huddle, his Charms homework forgotten as he tried to conduct damage limitation for the absent Harry Black-Potter. "Maybe do something next week?"

Fred slumped back in his chair while George glared at the Longbottom scion. Neville, just about used to not being a complete joke thanks to Harry's positive influence, met the gaze evenly. Eventually, George blinked and turned back to his potions assignment with a grumble. A slow, feral grin spread across his face before he carefully smothered it, noticed only by his twin brother who sat forwards in anticipation.

"You know," George commented idly with a sly glance at Neville, "I really think we should do something for Snape."

Lee's quill paused in its scratching and he raised his eyes to look at George. "For Snape?"

George shrugged, "To Snape. Whatever."

Neville looked up, meeting the identical grins with a look of trepidation. At least they weren't planning on pranking Harry out of his depression "What did you have in mind?"

"Well, it was Neville's idea, really," George acknowledged. A look of confusion spread across Neville's face as he began to re-think his policy of not pranking Harry.

"Huh? What idea?" Neville asked. Fred gave him a thumbs up despite not knowing what his brother was talking about.

"Maybe Snape just needs to get drunk," George clarified. Fred and Lee nodded thoughtfully.

"How do you propose we do that?" Neville asked, just a little bit concerned about how they intended to go about what could arguably be described as poisoning a teacher. Even if he was technically a Magical Creature in the eyes of the law. And a twat.

* * *

**Friday Morning, Fifth Year Potions, Slytherin and Hufflepuff**

Severus Snape was lost in his own world, going back over an old fantasy that he had tried to convince himself was actually a memory. It had been at the start of '81 and he had been thrilled at the prospect of Malfoy Senior providing him with the backing that he would need to begin his own potions laboratory, not yet knowing that he was being recruited as Death Eater. He had sent Lily a letter, congratulating her on her wedding, despite the insane jealousy he had felt, and apologising again profusely for his harsh words against her. He had sent the letter and then gotten drunk. Really drunk.

The memory of that night had been one of the best, though it didn't come back to him for some time. Instead, fragments become clearer as his involvement with the Death Eaters grew and he realised that Lucius was never going to finance his dream. Severus had even raised it with the aristocrat some time after he had taken his mark, and the man had laughed at him, admitting that it had never been his intention, that it was just a way of recruiting him into the Dark Lord's flock. Merlin, he had been such a fool.

But, he had had those fragments of memory to comfort him during the worst moments. A red-headed woman, knocking at his door late at night, coming into his chambers. No words had been needed, if they had, he couldn't remember them, he just knew his Lily had come to him. She had been gone the morning after, leaving him in rumpled sheets and the very blurred memories of what was undoubtedly the best night of his miserable life. He sighed, not daring to re-visit them in case the fantasy was forever ruined. Well, it already had been. Fucking Harry Black-Potter.

When Lily had given birth nine months later, after he had passed the prophecy to Voldemort, he couldn't stop thinking about that night. What if it was his own son he had sent his master chasing after?! Oh of course, Lily and James were married and showed no sign of marital strife, but he knew what had happened… didn't he? He hadn't dared use his Occlumency on those memories to determine the truth of that night, preferring his version of reality. It had caused him no end of amusement to consider that Sirius Black, of all people, had fled with Severus' love-child with Lily, even if he wished he could have raised young Harry himself.

And then the little shit had shown up at Hogwarts, looking like a miniature version of James, and Severus' dreams were shattered.

He sighed morosely. It was so hard being him, sitting behind his desk, glaring out at the assembled students before him. They were all busy working away at whatever potion he had tasked them with today, desperately trying not to mess it up, which they undoubtedly would, and earn them abuse and further points deduction. Speaking of which...

"Ten points from Gryffindor!" _Ha! That'll teach 'em._

He glowered out at the room, his attention snapping towards a visibly shaking hand. He noted the green and silver trimming of his own house and nodded irritably for them to ask their question.

"Uhm… Sir, there aren't any Gryffindors in this class."

_Huh._ He cast around, searching for a clue as to who he should be taking points from instead, spotting the black and yellow trim on a set of robes. _Stupid Hufflepuffs with their stupid… badger. Always acting so superior. Superior badger. What a shitty super-hero that would be. Where was I. Oh yeah!_

"Fifteen points from Hufflepuff for arguing with a Professor!" Several confused looks went around the class. Had any of them actually said anything? Did it matter?

He launched himself to his feet, perhaps a little too quickly, swaying with the sudden change in height, and his swooping movements to stalk around the class and instill further terror felt distinctly less smooth than normal and more… staggering.

A cauldron tipped over, spilling its contents across the floor and he whirled around with a snarl, spotting the spreading puddle just behind him. Had he knocked it over? He wasn't sure.

"Thirty points from Gryffindor for your clumsy stupidity!" he screeched, flicking his wand out to freeze the potion as it spread across the floor, melting table legs as Severus loomed and glared down at the student before him. He looked familiar. Wasn't it one of his Slytherins? The boy looked terrified either way.

"Umm… I'm in your House, Sir… but…" the boy gulped and desperately looked around for support from his classmates. "There still aren't any Gryffindors here, Sir, just Hufflepuffs. And Slytherins," he added. Snape glanced around him. He was two rows into the Slytherin side of the classroom, the mess from the cauldron nowhere near the Hufflepuffs that were staring at him in terror.

"Fine, forty points from Hufflepuff!" he growled "Now get out!"

The students fled as Severus cleaned up the mess with a flick of his wand. He sighed and made his way back to his desk, bumping his hip painfully against one of the cauldrons and knocking it over, sending another wave of potions sluicing across the floor. Shit. This was all that sodding Black-Potter's fault. He was the one who had ruined Severus' fantasy of having a child with Lily. Bastard.

He slumped behind the desk, glaring out at the now empty classroom and before he knew it, he had gone back into the memory, for some reason unable to stop himself from using his Occlumency to finally clear up the haze. That beautiful visage, that he had desperately tried to convince himself was Lily morphed into someone else, undeniably and most definitely not his beloved childhood friend. Someone so much worse. Much, much worse. The realisation hit him and he spun, vomiting noisily into the bin by his desk.

"Fuck, but I _hate_ Harry Black-Potter," he mumbled miserably to himself.

* * *

**OMAKE**

**Dedicated to ThomasNealy for an exceptionally well raised point.**

"_Stand by, Mongoose - "_ their radios crackled to life, causing them all to freeze, hands snapping back to weapons, but before Kevin could finish, a sudden flare of light behind them had each of them spinning, fingers depressing triggers, half-inch wide bullets flashing from muzzles to slam into the new arrival. There was a sudden burst of flames and then nothing apart from a ringing silence as the echo of the gunfire faded away to the tinkling of spent cartridge cases and a small pile of ash drifted to the floor.

"Aw crap!" Harry muttered and was the only one to lower his weapon.

"What the _fuck_ was that?!" demanded Darren angrily.

"_Sorry, Mongoose, Headmaster thought he'd send in some reinforcements, didn't give me time to give a proper heads up."_ Even over the comms set they could tell Kevin was just a teensy bit irritated at Dumbledore's dabbling. "_Nill further interference expected."_

"Explain!" the word was bitten out by a very angry Sophia.

"We just iced the Headmaster's Phoenix," Harry provided, moving forwards and scooping up what appeared to be a small, bald, very ugly chicken that had poked it's head from the pile of ash and glared blearily at them before burying its head back in the ash. "Sorry, buddy," he muttered, cancelling his communicator, "we're all a touch edgy." He tucked the reborn Phoenix into the front pocket of his suit and turned back to the rest of the team.

"Tell that old fool to stop interfering!" snarled Sophia.

"_He heard you, Mongoose One. Message received."_

"Right, confirm weapons are in position?" Sophia's question received several replies in the positive from the rest of the team and she ordered the team to lower their visors before turning to Harry. "Ready when you are, Six."

"Speak to me, Salazar, greatest of the Hogwarts Four." Nothing.

"Really?" came the dubious voice of Ian Coffer, still training his oversized weapon on the head of the statue. "Bit full of himself, this lad, wasn't he?" Harry felt a blush creeping up his face and was glad that the helmet prevented the others from seeing his embarrassment even as the Marine echoed his thoughts from earlier.

"Wait, was that English or Parseltongue?" asked Harry.

"English!" came the reply from several voices. He took another steadying breath, focusing now on the snake carvings, trying to imagine them as real serpents before trying again.

With a rumble and grinding of shifting stone, the mouth of the statue opened.

There was a prolonged silence after the mouth had fully opened, the five soldiers and Harry finding their hearts beating faster, sweat trickling itchy pathways across their skin as they waited. And then it came. A long, drawn out hiss.

"_**Huuungrrry...**_"

_Here goes nothing,_ Harry thought to himself, focusing on his magic and casting the spells he required. There was a sudden burst of noise in response to the creature's hiss and then a moment of silence.

"Holy Cow!" breathed Alice Kettering as the head of the serpent splashed into the pool of flood water at the foot of the statue, coil after coil of limp Basilisk landing lifelessly on top of it.

"Told you it would work," Harry said after the tail joined the heap. Sophia pulled off her helmet and scowled good naturedly at him before allowing the corner of her mouth to tug slightly up to what for most people was a broad grin.

"Alright, kid, don't get cocky." Sophia couldn't help but show, just a little, how impressed she had been that the plan worked. She gazed in amazement at the eighty-foot monstrosity that had forced much of the water to splash out and lap against their feet. "Bloody cockerels. Who would have thought?" The roosters were now pecking around the floor of the chamber in the futile hope that they would discover something edible, the false morning light of Harry's spell fading away.

"The only thing I'm wondering," Ian Coffer spoke up, ruffling sweat-drenched hair as he and the rest of the team took their helmets off, clipping them to the clips on their backs. "Is what the Headmaster thought a Phoenix could do. Claw out the thing's eyes maybe?"

"Yeah," agreed Darren with his permanent scowl, nudging an inquisitive rooster away with his foot. "But you'd still be left with an eighty foot Basilisk that could swallow you whole and would be able to sense you anyway, I mean, even normal snakes can hunt in the dark, so what? Kill it with a lucky shot or a sword? No thanks!"

"Ridiculous," agreed Alice with a chuckle.

"I think he's going senile," Harry supplied apologetically. "Anyway, shall we head up for dinner?"

* * *

_A/N Hope you enjoyed - please review! _

_As to the slightly more important note - I just left my job before Christmas and I'm off travelling from next week till mid-March to Oz and NZ. While I have some long flights and no doubt a bit of time, writing this will not be my priority unfortunately though if I manage to get any done it will be posted should I get the chance. As to what's coming next, highlights will include: the Slytherin campaign, finding out just what sort of desperation drives a woman to sleep with Snape, Dumbledore facing some uncomfortable questions in the Wizengamot and at Hogwarts, a Christmas Ball (maybe) and a Dementor named Steve. As to Harry's animagus form - I'm not going to say what it is, PM me if you have any thoughts as to what it might be and I'll continue dropping hints over the next couple of chapters._

_In the mean time if you're looking for something to read, try Harry Potter and the Psychic Serpent series by BarbLP (long series, well written and really interesting idea) On a Pale Horse by Hyliian (Just flat out awesome) He's Not Dead Yet by Redbayley (for a superbly entertaining blend of Monty Python and Harry Potter) or anything else on my favourites list. And anything by Nonjon or JBern. Seriously, those guys are fantastic._

_Once again thank you for all the reviews, they really make it worth the writing. Hopefully I'll be leaving another note and chapter for you soon, till then._

_Notsoancientmariner_


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N Well, I'm back from travels and here's Chapter 22. Unfortunately un-beta'd as Andor is currently busy with school work so if anyone feels like volunteering themselves, please get in touch. **

**Read the longer note at the end for what's on the way.**

**Grimmauld Place, Sunday Evening**

"Wait," Harry pleaded, one hand rubbing his eyes and the other held up beseechingly to the person opposite him. "Just go back a moment."

"How far?" The voice was soft, lightly gravelled with age and the grumble that spoke of a heavy smoker and one that used the benefits of a wizard's disposition to avoid the negative health side effects in order to maintain a twenty-a-day habit.

Harry glanced helplessly at Sirius, who looked equally confused and could only shrug in response.

"The beginning?" Sirius tried pathetically. Harry nodded in agreement even as Arcturus gave a beleaguered sigh and an apology to the man he had brought back to meet Harry.

Sirius and Harry were sat on a sofa in the Black residence of Grimmauld place, Remus and Arcturus had taken arm chairs around the low table in front of the fireplace, the various documents of Harry's medical scans scattered across it. Their guest, a distinguished man who looked to be anywhere between his late forties and early sixties, his grey hair and close cropped beard still streaked with red and a thick, yellowish streak of nicotine stain to one side of his jaw, had introduced himself with a handshake and a "Just call me Nick", now stood leaning casually against the mantelpiece. He had arrived with two thick manilla folders filled with carefully written and cross-referenced information on two particular topics, the first was the larger one on Voldemort and his rise to power, the second was smaller and much more disturbing. Horcruxes. The psychotic house-elf that seemed to hate everyone except Harry had provided them with refreshments before disappearing, leaving Nick to begin the theory he would now repeat.

"So my theory, and it is only a theory," he began again, repeating himself almost verbatim. "Is that when Harry was struck by the killing curse as a child, it interfered with the magic of a protective charm or artefact placed on him by James, augmented by Lily's sacrifice and her own charms, further warped by a particularly nasty piece of rather dark magic."

"Unfortunately, Harry was not the first infant that would have been killed during the war, or, for that matter, any conflict that came before; we can also assume that Lily was not the first mother to sacrifice herself for her son, James was not the first person to use a charm to protect his son and, though they have been mercifully few and far between, Tom, the man who would later become known as Voldemort, was not the first dark wizard to try and create a Horcrux and indeed had made at least one before this attempt."

Nick glanced around his audience. "Everyone happy so far?" There was a series of nods and he smiled before continuing.

"Now, as we know, the Horcrux is a splitting of one's soul to be placed in a vessel and thus tie a wizard to life, though it does tend to have some seriously negative side effects - loss of rationality, delusions of grandeur, psychosis, mental imbalance, loss of sex drive, insomnia, feelings of deja vu - "

"Wait, haven't we had this conversation already?" Whispered Harry to Sirius, unable to resist.

"Can you please be serious!" Snapped Arcturus, realising what he had said and to whom as soon as the words left his mouth.

"I could try," Harry replied, his face carefully neutral. "But he's had much more practice." He pointed at his godfather, whose shoulders were shaking even as he bit his lip to contain his laughter.

"Have I missed something?" Asked Nick.

"His name is Sirius." Harry jumped in before anyone else could stop the game before it went any further, pointing at his godfather.

"Well of course it is," agreed Nick, his expression grave. "A man's name is no laughing matter."

"No," Remus interrupted, trying to explain "his name is actually Sirius Orion Black."

"Seriously?" Nick's incredulous question prompted Sirius to finally unleash a howl of laughter, even as Remus continued. Arcturus, knowing how this would end, was just rubbing the bridge of his nose to stave away the impending headache.

"It's a star, some family tradi - " He glared at the man, whose eyes were beginning to twinkle suspiciously. "Oh for Merlin's sake." He grumbled at having been caught out, scowling at his friend who was wiping tears of laughter from his cheeks.

"Shall I continue?" Nick asked, the ghost of a smile dancing around his lips even as Sirius straightened himself up and waved for him to carry on. "The long and short of it, these magics and sacrifices are diametrically opposed but also have certain similarities, namely the protective nature of Lily and James' magic and the protective nature of the Horcrux which is in itself an attempt to ensure survival, albeit not intended for Harry." Even Sirius' expression became sombre as Nick continued.

"My belief, having seen the scan results performed on Harry, is that when these magics combined, elements of James, Lily and Tom were all combined within the only remaining viable vessel." He explained. There was a long awkward pause as everyone turned to stare at Harry. He gave them a small smile and a wave.

"So I've got their magic?"

"Not sure." Nick shrugged with an apologetic smile around the Black family living room. "I'm basing this purely on theory." He said by way of excuse, recognising the looks of frustrated confusion on the faces around him. With a small frown at the lack of comprehension in his audience, he decided to try a different tack. "The common wording for a magical oath provides a promise to be kept on pain of loss of life, soul and magic." He paused and there were four nods of agreement. "Now obviously there was no life, but you saw the ghost of James and later Lily, who mentioned that there was a shade of Voldemort in Harry's head." Another round of nods.

"There's your three extra souls, departed after the destruction of Voldemort by the ghost of James, later to depart with the ghost of Lily." There were flickers of triumph tinged with sadness on the watching faces before he carried on. "That leaves only one thing - magic." He picked the four different scans up that showed the four different cores.

"So what you're saying" Harry began slowly, "is that I have four magical cores?" There was a shrug and an awkward look towards Arcturus from Nick. "But then why did they only suddenly become active now?"

"The magic from the wards." Sirius said quietly, earning a nod.

"That is what I believe." Agreed Nick. "The magic needed to expend itself somewhere, first filling your core, feeding out into the flame and twisting it into fiendfyre." Harry's face was a carefully schooled mask as the scabbed wound of the previous weekend re-opened. Sirius rested a gentle, sympathetic hand on his shoulder, all mirth from before gone. "When that wasn't enough, the cores - the magic of Tom, James and Lily - were activated. I believe they had been dormant until now and probably would have faded with time, perhaps merging with your own and maybe giving you slightly higher magical capacity than before but otherwise having no significant impact." He took a deep breath. "You have to realise that this is all conjecture, I've never heard of anything like this happening before but it makes sense. And also," he continued after a moment's thought, "I doubt you actually have four magical cores. More like one big one."

"How big?" Asked Remus.

Nick shrugged. "Bigger than normal. If I were to guess, without this Harry would have had a fairly average sized core. With the addition of both his parents and Voldemort's, it would be so big his body simply wouldn't be able to contain it and he'd simply cease to exist, so having four would be a complete impossibility... put simply, he's more powerful than he should be, but not god-like. Probably." He frowned at the vague answer he had given before trying to clarify further. "I believe that once you reach maturity and your core has stabilised, you will find yourself at about the same level as Dumbledore and Tom before him - just bear in mind that the size of Dumbledore's core is an oddity, occurring perhaps once in a millennia, while Tom achieved his greater magical power through various rituals, most obscure and all considered very Dark."

There was a long pause as everyone considered the hypothesis, before Harry spoke again. "Why don't I need glasses any more?" Nick heaved a deep sigh.

"We think that when you tried to funnel the magic of the wards through yourself, you couldn't vent it fast enough and so it sought another means of escape." Arcturus took up the explanation softly. "To begin with, it went out, into the fire. Then it went in. It maxed out your magical core, then bonded the others to your own and used them. When that wasn't enough, it started enhancing your body - that's why you were able to move so quickly in the memory we saw, why you don't need glasses anymore and also why your body can now contain more magic than it should." Harry nodded in understanding and Arcturus gave a heavy sigh, knowing he would have to keep explaining even as it refreshed the painful memories.

"When you tried to save Victoria, you drained pretty much all of it which is why you're still alive. It's also why you can't still run at thirty miles an hour, though from what Darren was saying you're still much faster than you have any right to be, so we can assume that there is some latent enhancement left." Harry nodded, expression carefully schooled into a stony mask. "The description you gave me of your core suggests that the one you had previously has merged with the three others..." He struggled to put it into words before shrugging. "In short, your magical capacity is bigger, you're physically stronger... there's a distinct possibility that your mental ability will increase as well."

"What about his animagus form?" Sirius asked, having enjoyed immensely the looks of shock on everyone's face when Harry had transformed earlier. At this, an expression of scholarly delight crossed Nick's face.

"Ah, now this is quite interesting and I do, in fact, think I may have a true answer for you." He smiled round at them all. "There are a few precedents - one from ancient Sumeria, though we've probably lost a few more than that, about five from the ancient Greeks and Romans that we know of, another from the Maori tribes, several, in fact, from the Americas and a few older ones from the Inca legends..." He trailed off having caught Arcturus' frosty glare before clearing his throat. "Besides the point. What happened here is that the magic, as pointed out by Arcturus," he nodded towards the man in recognition, "sought a release. Part of that release opened up the animagus ability within you, your form manifesting as one that would provide you the most protection from the greatest threat at the time, in this case the fiendfyre that you had summoned. This is why you mentioned a feeling of affinity with the construct and why you could only see fire and smell smoke when you were meditating on your form."

"But an animagus ability wouldn't protect him from the basilisk venom." Pointed out Remus, prompting a flashed smile from Nick before the older man continued.

"Indeed it wouldn't." He agreed, switching to full teacher mode. "The first transformation into one's animagus form can often be the most important. There is well documented evidence of several cases where, when an animagus form has been the result of a traumatic incident, the form has been influenced by the events in question, in this case, the fire and being swallowed by the basilisk." Harry shifted uncomfortably under the looks of concern from all three of his guardians.

"His ability to survive the venom is most likely due to the presence of Fawkes - he was there during your first transformation and the fire nature of your form and Phoenixes also being creatures of fire ensured a level of compatibility. It probably helped that Fawkes had recently undergone a re-birth and was therefore more vulnerable, so when you transformed inside the basilisk, you initiated another re-birthing and you combined with Fawkes, thus counteracting the basilisk venom. There is a possibility that you will find yourself with the increased rejuvenation powers of the phoenix, possibly even a bond of some sort with Fawkes himself." There was another long silence as the information was processed. "Really quite fascinating." Nick commented with a chortle.

"Quite." Agreed Remus dryly. "And exactly how do we work out the extent of Harry's new... abilities?" He asked, struggling to find an appropriate word. At this, Nick shuffled uncomfortably before shrugging.

"Trial and error?"

"Fuck that!" Cried Sirius and Harry almost in unison, blushing under the resulting glare from Arcturus and muttering their apologies.

"While I chastise them for their phrasing," Lord Black said slowly, "I cannot but help to agree with their sentiment. Harry will not risk his life merely to determine an ability he may or may not have."

"No, of course not." Mollified Nick. "That's just crazy talk. What I mean to say is, be on the look out for certain oddities that may be unexplainable. I would also caution you against revealing your animagus form."

"Why?" Harry asked bluntly, still not entirely sure what to make of the strange man his grandfather had recruited to their cause.

"Put simply? Surprise." Nick responded.

"Any advantage you have," Remus explained patiently "is always better as a surprise."

"Besides," Sirius chimed in, trying to bring a little levity back to the conversation. "Knowing your luck they'd assume that you'd carried out some foul ritual and throw you in Azkaban."

* * *

**Hogwarts, Sunday Evening**

The news had spread like wild-fire. Whispered rumours that he was gone for good. Some met the news with consternation and a desperate wondering of what they would do now, worried as to how their lives would change but knowing that it would almost certainly be for the worst. Others met the news with hope, that things would finally go back to the way they should have been. On a fairly deserted corridor, somewhere in Hogwarts school there was an argument going on.

"Will you just let me go!" The irate demand from between the Weasley twins was studiously ignored as they frog-marched the younger boy backwards down the hallway.

"No." Came the quick response from one of the twins. Their prisoner huffed irritably before glancing at the other brother.

"Can you at least turn me around then?" He tried in a more reasonable tone of voice. The twins looked at each other across his head, grinning evilly at each other.

"No." With the response, the captive sighed, turning his head to look in the direction he was being dragged just in time to see the twin on his right open a door to a classroom, poke his head in to confirm that it was empty, and then drag them all in. With slightly more force than was necessary, the twins pushed him away from them, their wands drawn but not pointed at him, firmly planted between him and the door.

Neville Longbottom sighed heavily. "Look, guys, it was just a prank - " he tried. The twins shook their heads in unison. "Nothing that bad will happen to us!" The two redheads snorted dismissively and he glared back at them. "We should tell them what we did!"

"Why?" Asked Fred.

"Because he got fired!" Neville practically shouted. He hated Snape as much as the next student. More, perhaps, having been the target of the man's ire for a disproportionate amount of time over the past two and a bit years.

"We fail to see how that's a problem." Responded one of the twins.

"Yeah, he was hardly likely to have gotten fired for being drunk considering the shit he's gotten away with since becoming a professor here." The other one argued reasonably.

Neville opened his mouth to protest. Then he closed it. Opened. Closed. He cast a suspicious glance at the two pranksters in front of him. "Are you sure we shouldn't feel bad about this?" He tried tentatively.

"Nope." Fred assured him.

"Wait, 'nope' as in we shouldn't feel bad, or 'nope' as in you're not sure we shouldn't feel bad." George asked with a look of mock confusion. His twin frowned and thought for a moment before smiling brightly.

"Yes."

"Don't try and change the subject." Snapped Neville, rubbing at his temples and trying desperately to avoid the migraine that threatened all but the most experienced and mentally flexible when conversing with the Weasley twins.

"Look at it this way," Fred continued, ignoring both of them, "all we did was encourage a little extra yeast to stick around in his gut."

"And besides," George added with a small smile. "You were the one that gave us the idea."

In a flash, Neville's near-acceptance of their actions was gone, replaced with his former anger at being involved with a prank that had had such dire consequences. "And you were the ones who inspired auto-fermentation syndrome in a teacher." He responded. "You realise that's tantamount to poisoning him don't you?"

Fred rolled his eyes as George answered the frequently voiced protest with their just as frequently used response. "But he's a magical creature and therefore it doesn't count as a crime."

"You have no idea if that defence is valid." Snapped Neville, just as he had every time before. In fact, this argument seemed to be going exactly the same way as every other time he had tried to convince the twins not to go down the give-Snape-auto-fermentation-syndrome-to-make-him-permanently-drunk path.

"Look at it this way, Nev' old chum," George said, wrapping an arm around the other boy's shoulders and guiding him from the classroom and away from the Headmaster's office as Fred held the door open for them. "He was going to get fired sooner or later anyway."

"What?"

"Yeah," agreed Fred "You didn't think they'd let a Dark Creature teach at Hogwarts did you?"

A look of contemplation crossed Neville's face as Fred slung his arm over his shoulder from the other side. All things considered, Neville was still being frog-marched between the twins but at least this time he was facing forwards.

"Besides, every pay-cheque they gave him would go to You-Know-Who," George pointed out "and even Dumbledore wouldn't be that forgiving."

With a heavy sigh, Neville agreed.

"Great!" Acknowledged the twins in unison.

"Now who should we prank next?" Asked Fred. Neville suppressed his groan, wondering exactly how he was going to keep them, and more importantly himself, from getting expelled and wondering if it was too late in the year to ask for a transfer to another school. He wasn't entirely sure how, but he was at least eighty per cent certain that this was somehow all Harry's fault.

* * *

The rest of the term, surprisingly, went without incident. In the aftermath of Snape's dismissal, during which so many stories as to the how and the why went running around the school that the truth ended up dizzy from being spun in so many different directions and decided to take a timeout, with the exact events being known only to Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape himself. While McGonagall thought she could probably use the memory for her next patronus charm, Dumbledore looked on the event with a combination of sadness and relief. Sadness that he now had to find a new Potions professor and head of Slytherin, relief that he no longer felt guilty every time he saw the man for pressuring him into spying against Voldemort. Snape was so pissed that he couldn't remember what he'd had for breakfast, despite seeing it twice that day, and promptly forgot the entire event.

Much to Oliver Wood's disappointment, the first Quidditch match was cancelled due to a quite frankly dangerous amount of rain and the fact that the entire school was much more interested in discussing just how you could survive being eaten by a basilisk and then just how someone managed to accomplish the much harder feat of getting Severus Snape fired. Wood's emphatic arguments that "Skin is waterproof" and "If it ain't raining, it ain't training" were heard but ignored, and the match was re-scheduled for after the Christmas holidays.

In the outside world, Minister Fudge found himself under increasing scrutiny over the escape of Bellatrix and Pettigrew and the lack of results in finding them. He had repeatedly tried to blame the Aurors, only to have every attack reflected back at him with the observation that it had been his administration which had repeatedly stripped the funding of the emaciated department and effectively hamstrung their attempts to combat all but the most petty of crimes. With his flagging support in the Wizengamot and the eventual release of the court transcripts that showed his support for the budget cuts after a pissed off Amelia Bones "accidentally" mentioned their existence over lunch with a colleague, coincidentally within earshot of a reporter from the Daily Prophet, Fudge became increasingly desperate and consequently did two things which would have dire consequences. One was exceptionally stupid, another remarkably intelligent for a man who thought bowler hats were still rather fashionable.

* * *

By the time the Christmas holidays rolled around, everything had reverted to a state of as-near-to-normal as was possible for a magical school where two of the students were the Weasley twins. Harry, Neville, Daphne and Susan Bones continued their training, driven ever harder by Harry's drive for revenge against Bellatrix Lestrange and Peter Pettigrew. Surprisingly for everyone else involved, though he couldn't match Harry's physical or magical strength, Neville managed to break even on the determination front and would often push himself to exhaustion both in their early morning exercises and their duelling and sparring practices with Sam and Mr Smith.

The evening before they left for their respective family residences, the four scions of noble and ancient houses left their practice room, heading back to their common rooms via the kitchens for a post exercise snack, once again silently thanking the twins for pointing out exactly which pear in which stone fruit basket had to be tickled to gain access. In what had become a habit for them since the second time Susan had linked her arm through Harry's, the boys first walked Susan back to the Hufflepuff dorms close to the kitchen and then turned towards the dungeons to walk Daphne back to the Slytherin common room. Much to Harry's relief and Daphne's annoyance, Neville once again remained apparently oblivious to Daphne's glares that clearly suggested he leave her and The Boy Who Lived alone, making idle chatter about various plans for meeting up over the Christmas holidays.

"... and so Nan says after we've done presents we'll probably head to the Ministry... Harry? Why have you stopped?" Neville, realising he had taken several paces on his own, turned to see that Harry had stopped short and was staring into a shadowed window sill. Daphne, her arm linked through Harry's, had been pulled short as well and was now eyeing the dark alcove with an expression of mild irritation.

"Hi." It was more of a statement than a greeting from Harry, who completely ignored both Neville and the perturbed young witch on his arm. The figure in the window turned to look at him, swiping away tears from her eyes and sniffing hard, nodding in his direction before turning its gaze back to the frost covered window. "I'm - "

"Harry Black-Potter." Finished the figure in a soft whisper. "I know."

Harry studied the slight young witch huddled onto the stone windowsill with curiosity. "Indeed I am, Miss..."

"That's - " began Daphne softly, her lip twisting in an unconscious sneer at the young Ravenclaw.

"Luna." Answered the girl idly, still staring out of the window. "Luna Lovegood."

Harry watched her, a curious expression on his face as she huffed on the glass and wiped it with her sleeve.

"The Hinky-punks are rather playful tonight, don't you think?" Luna asked idly, not turning from the window, one finger idly tracing the patterns in the frost gathered at the edge of the window.

"Where are your shoes?" Asked Harry, ignoring the apparently random question. The figure in the window tensed suddenly, shoulders twitching away from them almost defensively as she glanced over her shoulder.

"I think they took them." She whispered, voice trembling with uncertainty and fear.

"Who took them?" Harry asked, gently extricating himself from Daphne's arm and sliding onto the windowsill next to the slight young girl.

She brushed a hand against her cheeks so dismissively it would, perhaps, have surprised most people watching to note it wasn't a nervous tick but that she was brushing away tears that trickled silently down her cheeks. "The nargles." She answered definitively. "They always take my things." She gave a watery smile and reached a hand up to stroke the muscle that started twitching in Harry's jaw at her statement. "It's ok though, they almost almost always turn up in the new year."

Harry cast a quick, questioning glance at Neville and Daphne, both of whom could only offer an awkward shrug in response. "How are you going to get back to your room without any shoes, Luna?" He asked, an angry undercurrent in the gentle question.

"Oh Harry, that's a silly question," she chided. "I'll just wait till the floor's warm enough and walk back."

"But if you wait till summer you'll miss the - " Neville's comment was cut off by Harry's raised hand.

"Well that's silly" countered Harry, his voice the same gentle softness one would use talking to a startled horse. "You're better off if I just carry you back now." Daphne and Neville cast uncertain glances at each other as Luna turned to examine the young man before her, fixing him with a gaze that seemed to strip the clothes, the meat, the person away from him, leaving only the soul and all that was accountable to it.

She nodded, and Daphne grumbled an irritable response, drawing her wand and pointing it towards the younger girl, who gave a terrified squeak of shock, twisting against the windowsill as if dodging the vilest of curses even as Harry's hand shot out and pointed Daphne's wand towards the ceiling.

"Tell you what," said Harry after a long pause. "I'll take Luna back to her dorm," a concerned blue eye focused on him from the safety of a crooked elbow. "Nev', you take Daphne back to the dungeons."

Harry either missed or ignored the perturbed look from Daphne as he turned back to the girl on the windowsill.

"No magic." He promised, "I'm just going to carry you back to your dorm, ok?"

She stared at him for a moment that seemed to stretch on for longer than it had any right to, and then she nodded in acceptance. Very carefully, Harry lifted her from the windowsill, cradling her in his arms and turned towards the Ravenclaw tower.

He walked slowly, not saying a word to the girl he carried, placing every foot with delicate precision. By the time they had reached the end of the corridor, she had relaxed slightly, settling into his arms and by the end of the first staircase had carefully stretched one of her own behind his neck, cradling her head into the softness of his shoulder.

And that was how Harry reached the entrance to the Ravenclaw tower, Luna raising her sleepy head to answer the riddle before they made their way across the silent but crowded common room, ignoring the curious looks they received from the rest of her House. They stopped at the foot of the stairs to the girls dorm and Luna slid fluidly from Harry's arms, turning to face him. She stood on her tiptoes, kissing him lightly on the cheek as everyone watched on in quiet confusion.

"Goodnight, Harry Black-Potter."

She turned and skipped lightly up the stairs, leaving The Boy Who Lived staring up at her retreating form. His expression was thoughtful as he made his way back across the packed but silent common room, the Ravenclaw students watching with studious interest the Boy Who Lived delivering the Girl They Shunned. He paused at the exit to the Tower, the sacred entrance where no one other than a Ravenclaw had been in living memory, if not longer.

"Everything gets back to her by tomorrow." He said, staring thoughtfully at nothing but the exit to the door, everyone listening suddenly, worryingly recalling the fact that this boy, this wizard, before them, had been eaten by a basilisk and survived and apparently also had a team of highly skilled mercenaries at his beck and call. Harry turned, a grim, fierce expression on his face and even the older years shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "Or I'm going to want to know why." He finished, opening the door, stepping out, and closing it carefully behind him.

It was a very long time after his departure that everyone in the common room let out a breath they hadn't been aware they were holding. A few minutes later, half a dozen ashamed members of the House sidled out of the room, making quiet excuses to their friends before hunting down pilfered possessions they would later leave outside one of the second year dorms.

* * *

In the Gryffindor common room, the students had gathered together to say goodbye to each other the night before the train was due to take those who were going home for the holidays away.

Harry, exceptionally glad that people had mostly stopped casting odd glances at him as he passed and whispering about him behind his back, was sat quietly enjoying an illicit butterbeer sourced by Fred and George and chatting away with a small group of Gryffindors about his plans for the coming break.

"...Sirius is insisting we all go to the Black chalet in the the Cinq Vallee." He said, "We went there a few years back but never managed to get back there again so this year we're trying it again."

"I thought there were only three vallees?" A confused Susan Shaw asked.

"Well, four if you include the Maurienne Vallee, but then there's the magical one as well, so it's technically five."

"Oh." Came the rather disappointed response at having heard there was a secret area of her favourite resort that she hadn't even heard of before. "So are you a skier or snowboarder?" She asked.

"Both," replied Harry nonchalantly, "though I prefer boarding."

"Wait a minute," Susan stated, a smile and a look of mock confusion on her face, "you're one of the top five, if not the highest scoring, students in your year, play on the house quidditch team, killed a thousand-year-old basilisk, one of the better duellers the school has ever seen, stopped this whole Slytherin crap, speak... how many?" She turned to Hermione, who was eavesdropping and wishing she was part of the conversation that had drawn way more attention than Harry would have liked.

"Five." Came the answer.

"Right, five languages."

"Six now, at least fluently. And that's not including Parseltongue because it's an ability not a skill you can learn." Corrected Harry. There was a moment of silence as everyone stared at him. He shrugged. "I got bored in History of Magic." Everyone continued staring at him.

"I get bored in History of Magic too," Lee Jordan commented dryly after a moment. "but I choose to catch up on sleep." There was a smattering of laughter.

"What language did you learn?" Asked Susan, a small smile tugging at her lips.

Harry shrugged. "Hindi." There was another pause and he rolled his eyes at everyone's looks of shock. "I figured it would be a challenge. It wasn't." He turned to where Parvarti and Lavender were stood and addressed the Asian witch fluently in her native tongue. "_I thought you might appreciate having someone to speak to in your own language, other than your sister._" Everyone turned to stare at the witch for a translation.

"His pronunciation is pretty good," she admitted, now even more impressed with the new boy "though his accent could use some work. _I'd be happy to help you practice, Harry._" Parvarti added with a slight blush, switching languages for the last sentence. He grinned back at her, prompting her to blush even more furiously before turning back to the rest of the crowd in front of him still staring in amazement.

He shrugged, reducing his grin to a small tug at the corner of his mouth. "I have a very talented tongue." Harry explained with a wink towards Susan, prompting several people to choke on their butterbeer and the males to cheer raucously even as the girls groaned and rolled their eyes. "But did you have a point?"

"Yes," the now lightly blushing prefect responded, "you can do all these things - "

"And play the cello." Put in one of the twins with a truly evil grin.

"- is there anything you can't do?" Susan continued nodding her thanks to the twin in question. "Also you're going to play for us." She added in a voice that brooked no argument.

Harry shot a glare at the twin who had dropped him in it before tilting his head to one side for a moment. "No." He said decisively.

"Do you mean 'no' there isn't anything you can't do, or 'no' you won't play for us?" Asked a rather unsteady Oliver Wood, who may have had just a snifter or ten from a bottle of firewhiskey that had made its way around the upper years, though he smelled as though he may have spilled a little down the muggle tee-shirt he was wearing as well.

Neville groaned as Harry grinned at Fred and George, remembering asking the same question to the twins once before. With a shrug and a decided lack of an answer, Harry stood up and left the room, returning with a large, hard case.

"Hey, I play cello too! What sort of music do you play?" Asked a curious muggle-born fifth year named Jonathan Marchant, who had been disappointed to hear that there was no music club at Hogwarts.

"Classic rock mostly." Harry dead-panned, earning a snort of amusement from the Weasley twins and a groan from Neville, who had learned that Harry would always give the least expected answer and almost always deliver with a surprise, even as everyone else looked at him in confusion.

"How can you play classic rock on a cello?!" Demanded an outraged Hermione Granger, who had been taught that musical instruments, much like books, were to be respected above almost everything else. Harry grinned.

"Watch and learn. Oh, you want to grab yours too?" Harry asked the fifth year. "This works better with two people." Jonathan nodded and headed out, returning moments later. When they had set themselves up on two small stools next to each other, instruments cradled carefully between their legs, Harry leant across, starting a rapid whispered conversation that the rest of the dorm desperately tried to listen in on.

"Just go with it." Came Harry's final prompt, earning a shrug from his new partner in crime as they readied their instruments. "Ready?"

With a quick wave of his wand, Harry cast a spell on each of their cellos and smirked at the gathered Gryffindors. "We shouldn't be the only ones to enjoy this." He said before nodding towards Oliver Wood. "This one's for our Quidditch captain." And he and Jonathan started to play.

Looks of confusion went from Oli, who shrugged, having no idea what the music was, back to the players.

"That's the William Tell overture!" Came Hermione's outburst, "That's not classic rock at all!" Harry just smiled a little wider as Jonathan continued playing the Rossini piece while Harry broke into a new tune with a savage grin.

A slow, wondrous expression spread across the inebriated Wood's face as his head started bobbing to the beat and the speed of the playing increased, soon joined with everyone else except a by now very angry looking Hermione Granger, who apparently didn't appreciate the finer points of Iron Maiden delivered by cello. Or maybe she just didn't like Iron Maiden.

The confusion spread throughout the school as the tune seemed to blast from the very walls of Hogwarts. Perhaps most surprised was Dumbledore, who had been making his way to the kitchen for a late night snack and was halfway there when the music kicked in. It wasn't so much the unexpected soundtrack that surprised him - indeed, he was fairly sure he knew who was responsible, but the fact that when he arrived in the kitchens it seemed that all the Hogwarts elves had developed a taste for heavy rock. The vast majority were frantically headbanging, forming an impromptu mosh pit, tiny fists raised in the air with index and pinky fingers extended while others played various makeshift or air instruments.

As the last notes faded away, the elves studiously ignored the headmaster, returning instead to their cleaning tasks as if nothing untoward had happened. Dumbledore, stood in absolute shock at the scene before him, shook himself out of his surprise as one of the elves approached him.

"Can Murray be helping the great Dumb-bore?" Asked the squeaky voice of an elf that Albus was fairly sure had been rocking out with a mop-guitar on one of the tables only moments before.

In the Slytherin common room, Draco was fuming. He had just succeeded in gathering the attention of the rest of his house-mates and was preparing to extoll the virtues of using the Christmas holidays to think of new and inspired ways to take put the rest of the school in their place now they no longer had an obscenely biased head of House to back them up, when suddenly this pitiful excuse for music cut him off. What was perhaps worse was that the vast majority of the rest of the Slytherin dorm seemed to be enjoying it, some even going so far as to think that Draco might have instigated it had he not looked so angry about the entire thing. In a quiet corner, Daphne was sat with her younger sister, who was looking on with a bemused smile on her face.

"Does this happen every year?" Astoria asked in confusion as the normally stuffy purebloods that made up her housemates began to literally let their hair down and dance to the new music.

"No." Daphne shook her head, trying and failing not to smile.

"Do you know who's done this?"

"I have a fairly good idea."

"It's that boy you like, isn't it?" Astoria asked, very careful to keep her face innocent.

"Yes." Agreed Daphne, before realising what she had said and flushing angrily. "I mean yes it's Harry bloody Black-Potter, but I don't bloody like him!"

"Ok! Merlin, sorry I asked!" Astoria smothered her smirk at getting one over on her big sister by raising her book in front of her face even as Daphne tried to glare a hole through it, and her. "Are you trying to convince me or yourself?" She asked with a cheeky smirk, earning another scowl from her older sister.

As the music faded in the Gryffindor common room, there was enthusiastic cheers and whistling for the two musicians as Harry and Jonathan stood and bowed.

"And that, my dear miss Granger," announced Harry with as much false pomposity as he could manage, "is how you play heavy rock on a cello." Hermione just scowled.

"Thank you, Mr Black-Potter." The noise and a small amount of the Christmas cheer leached out of the room as Professor McGonagall made her presence known. "And Mr Marchant," she added, nodding towards the fifth year. "For that most interesting display. I don't suppose anyone could enlighten me as to how that music seems to have been playing throughout the entire school?"

It took about five seconds of silence before everyone turned to look at Harry. He shrugged and kept an expression of innocence that would have made his godfather proud plastered on his face.

"Magic?" He suggested with a small smile. There was a slight twitch at the corner of McGonagall's mouth and a choked laugh from somewhere near the back of the crowd as she considered the answer for an uncomfortably long time.

"That would make sense." She admitted abruptly with a smile and surprisingly cheerfully, shocking much of the house at the lack of criticism for the prank even as they allowed themselves to release the breath they didn't realise they were holding. "However I do believe it is time for the younger years to be going to bed. If I miss the opportunity tomorrow," she added, turning her gaze on the rest of the common room, "I wish you all the best for the festive season and entreat you all to at least try and stay out of trouble."

With that, McGonagall turned and left the common room, waiting until the portrait had closed behind her before letting slip the small chuckle she had struggled to repress, humming the odd combination of metal and opera that Harry had inflicted upon them. Perhaps surprisingly, the common room emptied rather quickly on her departure, the sixth and seventh years feeling the effects of a few too many butterbeers and shots of firewhiskey, relegating the responsibility of shepherding the first and second years to bed to the fourth and fifth years.

"Oi Potter, I want a word." Harry allowed himself to be dragged into a corner by the fifth year prefect, grateful for an excuse not to have to face the questioning of the rest of his housemates.

"What can I do for you Sue?" Susan Shaw glanced around the rapidly emptying common room before turning back to Harry.

"I was just wondering - "

"Ah crap!" Harry interrupted with a whispered curse, his cheeks colouring slightly.

"What?" Susan Shaw asked, her confusion clear on her face as she looked at Harry, his eyes closed and a look of embarrassed irritation on his face. He didn't answer, merely pointed towards the ceiling. She glanced up, blushing almost as much when she saw the mistletoe hanging between the two of them and the not-so-subtly sniggering Weasley twins who disappeared rapidly up the stairs towards the boy's dorms as she glared and sent several quick hexes at them.

"Sorry, about them." Harry muttered awkwardly. "I'll get them back after the holidays..." He trailed off, catching Susan's wry smile.

"They're gone, Harry." He looked towards the empty space the twins had been occupying only moments before.

"Oh."

"Harry..."

"Yes?"

"The mistletoe is still there."

"Oh."

* * *

**Hogsmeade station, the next morning.**

"Why are there Aurors here?" Harry asked, looking around at the half dozen red-cloaked wizards on the Hogsmeade station.

"Don't change the subject." Said Fred with a grin.

"Yeah, tell us what happened last night." Demanded George.

"Last night?" Asked Harry with a look of mock confusion.

"Yeah, last night."

"Nev' here already told us that you weren't in bed before he fell asleep." Harry glared at his dorm mate who mumbled an apology for dropping Harry in it.

"Some things are best forgotten." Harry snapped irritably.

"Ohhh..." Snickered George. "Touchy, touchy there, Mr Potter."

"And exactly what are these things best left forgotten?" Enquired Fred with a lecherous grin.

"Events between our dear Harrikins and one of the best looking prefects this house -"

"School" corrected Fred.

"Sorry brother, best looking prefects this _school -_"

"Thank you"

"- Has ever seen?"

"The Prankster Code demands that you share with us!"

"Rule twenty-one."

"No secrets - "

"No, that wasn't what I was thinking was best left forgotten." Interrupted Harry, refusing to rise to the bait and cutting off the twins, enjoying the look of confusion on their faces and the ones on Lee and Neville for a moment before his irritation morphed into a decidedly evil smile. "I was referring to the fact that you pranked me and I haven't retaliated yet."

Fred and George paled suddenly as Lee and Neville began to snigger at their discomfort. "Now look here Harry -" began George.

"Old buddy"

"Pal"

"Friend"

"Mate"

"We were only having a little fun." George pleaded his excuse.

"Maybe got a little carried away with the Christmas spirit." Added Fred.

Harry waved them off, a look of regret on his face. "I'm sorry guys, but you've broken Rule five." Fred sighed heavily.

"Let no prank go unanswered." Whispered George, swallowing nervously as the rest of their group tried to contain their amusement.

"I'm sorry guys." Harry repeated apologetically, his eyes darting from Fred to George and back with each word. "Old buddy, pal, friend, mate," They paled as he shook his head mournfully. "the Prankster Code demands it."

Lee and Neville, struggling to cover their amusement with serious expressions shared a wry smile before nodding in agreement. "The Prankster Code demands it."

"The Prankster Code demands it." Whispered the twins in unison, hanging their heads in defeat as they tried to put as much space and people between themselves and Harry as possible, breathing a sigh of relief as Harry was distracted as he noticed a nearby Hufflepuff.

"Oi, Susan!" Harry shouted to Susan Bones. "Any word from your aunt as to why there are so many Aurors here?"

The brunette turned and smiled at Harry and Neville, casting a bemused glance at the visibly nervous twins. "Yeah, she said something about there being increased security till they catch Bellatrix and Pettigrew," both Harry and Neville scowled at the mention of Lestrange. "but she didn't seem to pleased about it, I guess she thinks they could be better employed elsewhere."

"Yeah, fair point." Harry conceded. "Ah well. Merry Christmas if I don't see you on the train!"

"You too." Responded Susan, giving both boys a hug before returning to the small group of Hufflepuffs that were returning home for the Christmas holidays.

Harry smirked at Neville's blushing, which hadn't gone unnoticed by Lee or the twins.

"So, Nev'" asked Fred, glad for anything that would distract Harry from his thoughts of revenge. "When are you going to be taking Miss Bones to Madam Puddifoot's?" There was a round of sniggers from the other boys as a look of horror passed across Neville's face at the thought of pink doilies and tea-sets in what was frequently referred to by the male population of Hogwarts as hell on earth.

"What was that about Rule Five, Harry?" Neville asked in lieu of a response and Fred gulped nervously as Harry's evil grin returned as they all tumbled into one cabin, their baggage delivered and loaded onto the train by the Hogwarts house elves. Most of them smothered a groan as Ron joined them, dragging a grumpy looking youngest Weasley who immediately scowled when she saw Harry, having heard just as many rumours as to what had or hadn't occurred after most everyone else was asleep the night before as anyone else and the hyperactive imagination of a crushing pubescent girl to make them all significantly worse. Or better, depending on your point of view.

As the train jerked away from the station, the twins produced a pack of cards for exploding Snap, then a small range of their newest toys, proudly displaying the Extendable Ears and various sweets that they failed miserably to convince anyone, even Ron, to eat in a desperate attempt to distract Harry from any thoughts of revenge.

"That reminds me," Harry announced brightly having been examining the magic on the Extendable Ears "you guys should really see the mirrors the Marauders used to use." He began fishing through his pockets, scowling as he realised it must have been packed with the rest of his belongings. "Wait here, I'll go grab it."

"Say hi to your favourite prefect for me!" Lee called after him, snickering at Harry's blush and the wincing twins, who were beginning to seriously regret reminding everyone of the previous evening.

As he made his way towards the baggage car, Harry waved to various members of the student body in their own carriages, swapping the occasional Christmas wish and turning a five minute journey into twenty minutes of snatched conversations and a fair amount of ribbing about his nocturnal activities.

"Finally." He muttered as he entered the dimly lit baggage car casting a quick _Lumos_ as he began looking for his case and cursing as the train rapidly slowed to a stop almost causing him to lose his balance. Had Harry not been distracted by his search and had it not been winter in the highlands of Scotland, he probably would have noticed the warming charms of the train failing slightly sooner. Instead, he put it down to the baggage car not having the same enchantments as the rest of the train and so he shivered, pulling his robes slightly tighter around him as he located his trunk on top of a pile of others.

It was only when the heavy case thumped to the floor that he realised something was wrong. Even for the baggage car, there shouldn't have been a hoar frost covered the luggage and windows in a layer so thick it crunched under his feet and if it should have been there, it shouldn't be spreading visibly across the walls. With a growing feeling of dread, Harry ran back to the door he had entered in by only to find it had frozen shut. He cursed as the dread began to shift to something more, teetering on the edge of panic as he frantically began searching through his trunk for the enchanted mirror that he could use to call Sirius.

A feeling of despair crept over him as the frost thickened. He remembered Victoria's milky gaze as she stared up at him after she had turned in his arms, blood no longer leaking from the wound in her chest and the breath caught as a sob in his throat. He let out an anguished moan as remembered Isaac slumped limply on the floor of the classroom, eyes staring back at him accusingly. Then he heard voices.

"_He's here Lily! Take Harry and run!" _A male voice. A thick shadow in the corner of the baggage car solidified, drawing in the light until the insubstantial became solid, drifting slowly towards him, a wrinkled hand unfurling at the end of one pitch black, too-long sleeve, revealing fingers the same putrid grey of rotten flesh.

"_No, not Harry"_ a woman's voice this time, he noted abstractedly, the ache in his heart increasing, threatening to break him in two as the creature drifted inexorably closer, his hand clenched around the forgotten mirror as he scrabbled backwards crab-like until his back thumped into the frozen shut door. "_Please not my Harry!"_

"_Get out of the way you stupid woman!"_ Another male voice, different from the first, more high-pitched and containing none of the desperate emotion of the previous two, just pure unadulterated hatred.

Two grey hands cupped his face, forcing it back, and he stared into the face of a nightmare. Grey, rotted skin covered blank sinks where they eyes should have been, scabbed lips opening to a gaping maw of a mouth that inhaled more than just air as the creature before him drew in a rasping, rancid breath. Harry felt helpless as the thing dipped its head, holding its mouth the merest fraction of an inch above his own, horrifyingly, sickeningly intimate. It inhaled.

Harry felt something inside him screech in anger, twisting violently against the inexorable pull he felt towards the darkness of the wraith's mouth. Had he been watching from another vantage point, he would have seen a faint light seemingly drawn from deep within himself slowly drifting from his mouth to be eagerly inhaled.

A moment later, the creature reared back, hacking and spitting, a rotten, scabbed hand brushing violently against where most things would have lips. The feelings of despair that had all but incapacitated Harry disappeared in a flash and he flinched as the warmth and ability to think coherently surged back into him. He watched in fascinated horror as the creature bent forwards, uncurled two long, grey, corpse-like fingers and stuffed them violently into its mouth, eliciting another bout of retching and a small pool of some foul smelling black lumpy liquid to drop hissing and steaming to the floor.

"Er…" Harry really had no idea where to start. Without the negative effects of the creature he had been feeling moments before, it wasn't a huge leap to realise that the thing before him was a Dementor, most feared of all known magical creatures. He just had no idea why one would be behaving like this. "Are you ok?" Harry tried asking as the creature paused in its retching to let out a low groan of self-pity.

"Ah man," the wraith replied in a surprisingly normal post-vomit voice. "You taste rank!"

Harry stared at it, mouth open, brain overloaded. He wasn't entirely sure what was stranger: that the Dementor spoke, of which there was no record of happening before and was widely assumed to be impossible, or that it spoke with a thick Scouse accent.

"Um… sorry?"

"It's worse than that time I ate four week old road kill!" Harry paled at the comparison.

"Why," he asked, voice faint and not entirely sure he wanted to hear the answer, "would you know what that tastes like?"

The creature froze, turning sightless eyes towards Harry. After a long, awkward moment, it gave a shrug as only a creature made entirely with too many bones its shoulders could. "Lost a bet."

"I think I'm going to be sick." Harry muttered, rubbing his face as he tried not to think about what that would taste like.

"You're gonna be sick?!" The creature demanded incredulously, "I'm the one who just got a mouthful of minging!"

"Yeah, well, you shouldn't have tried to eat my soul, should you?" Countered Harry.

"I'm a Dementor you idiot, it's what we do." The creature replied scathingly. "Anyway, how come you can understand me?" There was a long, awkward pause.

"Magic?" Asked Harry uncertainly.

"Oh yeah, great answer, Einstein." Grumbled the dementor. "You must be at the top of your class. Fucking 'magic' he says," now muttering to itself as it brushed irritably at the flecks of black vomit on the front of its robes. "What a bell-end."

"Well excuse me for not having an explanation for an unknown magical phenomenon with no precedence," Harry snarled back, feeling rather put out that he was being blamed for something he had no control over. "but there's no need to be a dick about it."

The soul sucking creature and the school boy glared at each other. After a long, awkward moment, Harry began to snigger. After a moment, the dementor joined in.

"This could only happen to me." Chuckled Harry, shaking his head as he considered the absurdity of his life thus far.

"Oh yeah?" The dementor asked peevishly. "What makes you think that I'm not the special one?"

"Has this ever happened to you before?"

There was a long moment of consideration before what could probably be described as a hopeful expression crossed its face. "Well I did get really bad heartburn from a soul once."

Harry just smirked.

"Fuck you, it could have been me." Snapped the dementor.

"Of course it could have," soothed Harry, making calming gestures with his hands, before smirking. "It just wasn't this time."

"Now who's being a dick?"

"Sorry, sorry." Harry apologised sincerely, though struggled to wipe the smile from his face. "It appears we got off on the wrong foot, shall we start again?" The dementor gave a cautious nod. "My name's Harry." Harry announced, holding out a hand.

Across from the young boy, the immortal creature, one that struck fear into the hearts of all who laid eyes upon them, who fed on the immortal souls of humans and left them as empty husks of what they had once been, looked cautiously at the proffered appendage. Slowly it reached out, cold, rotting fingers wrapped carefully around the warm live ones in a firm shake. Harry winced, the hand in his own feeling like someone had stuffed a skinny washing up glove with lumpy porridge and bits of wood.

"You can call me..." the dementor announced, drawing itself up to its full height of a little over eight feet tall, adopting what could only be described as an imperious stance, pausing dramatically as Harry waited, wondering exactly what type of name a dementor had. "Steve."

Harry desperately swallowed his amusement at the innocuous name. "Steve." He repeated, rolling the word around in his mouth as he eyed up the creature before him and tried to ignore the cold, limp hand in his own. "It suits you." Dead lips cracked and pulled into an horrific rictus of a smile that quelled any temptation to laughter and made Harry want to vomit.

"I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

* * *

_A/N Well, there you go: Up to Christmas after Harry's first term - I honestly thought this would only take me ten chapters or so and considering it's now pretty much book length I'd say it's too long so I'm going to try and keep the rest of it shorter. I envisage taking between two to five more chapters to get it as far as the start of the next academic year and the Tri-Wizard Tourney, which will be completely different from canon when I get around to writing it. Probably. It might end up the same._

_For those that are wondering, yes that's another 2cellos inspired bit - I saw their Trooper overture and was blown away. I also liked the idea of house elves rocking out and this was the only way I could fit it in._

_As well as travelling I also haven't been writing this because I've been working on my own stuff - there's two short (very short) stories on my wordpress site - as well as various doodles. I'll add a link in my profile shortly or you can go straight to .com_

_Cheers for reading as always, please leave a review._


	23. Chapter 23

_A/N Hey guys, I'm really sorry it's taken me so long to get this next chapter up - no excuses, just an apology. I'll try to take less time on the next one but I'm not going to make any promises I can't keep._  
_Thanks for all the reviews, they really do make it worthwhile, hopefully you'll all enjoy this next instalment._

_Also I still don't own any of this._

* * *

"I can't believe you're grounding me for the entire holidays!" Harry groused for at least the tenth time since Sirius and Arcturus discovered his involvement with _The Incident_, as it had become known.

"And I can't believe you thought using a Dementor to prank your friends was a good idea," Sirius responded from behind his paper, the Daily Prophet screaming its support in two inch high letters.

_**DEMENTORS ATTACK HOGWARTS EXPRESS!**_

Harry scowled at the headline. Of all people, he had thought that Sirius would have been able to see the funny side but apparently even he was drawing a line in the sand.

"It's not like anyone knew it was my fault." He grumbled.

"And that is also not the point," Arcturus chimed in, watching his adopted great-grandson sternly over a steaming mug of tea. "The point is that you thought that your actions, which could have resulted in serious psychological harm or, Merlin-forbid, a child being Kissed, were an appropriate response to a childish prank." Harry had the decency to blush and continue poking the scrambled eggs around his plate as he muttered barely audible protests. "However, I am interested in finding out more about this. . . Steve, so hurry up and finish your breakfast."

"Wouldn't Remus want to be here for any of that?" Harry asked, glad for the change of topic. He caught the look between Arcturus and Sirius, brief though it was. "What?"

"Remus hasn't really taken his break up with Fiona all that well," Sirius explained, shifting awkwardly in his seat.

"Oh. . . " There was a long pause as they reflected on the plight of their friend. "How bad -"

The front door burst open with a loud crash, prompting Harry to jump from his seat, pointing his wand towards the doorway, ready to deal with any intruders. "What?" he asked, noting the bemused expression on Sirius and Arcturus' faces.

"The wards, Harry," Arcturus explained with a smile, stealing a slice of toast from Sirius' plate as the other turned a page in his newspaper even as he silently levitated a healthy portion of salt into his grandfather's tea. "Only people we key into them can get into the house. Come on, Harry, you know this!"

Kreacher waddled around the corner, his usual expression of distaste at two of the occupants of the room somehow even more pronounced than usual, his cheer at Harry's return having apparently passed. "The filthy mongrel is back," he announced in the same tone one might expect a member of Greenpeace to announce the board of directors from BP - somewhere slightly lower than finding out that Satan and several of his greater demons have come for tea, and will probably be staying for a week or more. "And he smells like he's been swimming in whiskey again. Cheap whiskey."

Curiosity getting the better of him, Harry poked his head into the corridor only to see a crumpled heap that might possibly be Remus Lupin, sprawled in hallway, the front door still trying to close itself against his foot.

Harry cleared his throat quietly. Nothing. A little louder. Still nothing. "Umm. . . Remus?" There was a grunt. Somewhere in the darkness of unshaven cheeks and a stench only achievable by the unrepentant and unwashed alcoholic, Remus Lupin opened a single bloodshot eye.

It took a long time to focus, but when it did, there was a feeble spark of recognition and the other eye opened.

"Harry. . . " croaked the dejected figure. Harry was concerned - he had known Remus his entire life, but this thing in front of him was as far from what he remembered as he could imagine. The disheveled werewolf pushed himself up - or at least tried to - before slumping back against the wall with a slight giggle that soon turned into a groan as his head hit the plaster.

"Never fall in love, Harry," came the mournful piece of advice. "Love. . . she's a motherfucking bitch."

Harry nodded seriously, eyeing the slouched figure critically.

"Whatever, pull your head out your arse and go have a shower!" Sirius snorted his amusement as he stepped past his godson wearing a face mask, large, elbow-length rubber gloves and a thick rubber apron, casting a levitation charm on Remus and guided him up the stairs, making sure to bump his head on the banister and then the wall. "I'm going to tell Arcturus about my new friend Steve." Harry announced, turning on his heel and heading towards the kitchen.

"I's good tha' Harry has frien's. . . " slurred Remus, "they help when it all goes to shit."

"Steve's a Dementor, Remus." Harry sniggered as he heard Sirius' tired response and then stopped in his tracks.

"You were remarkably quiet throughout all of that," he observed to the portrait of Walburga Black. The stern old lady shrugged and examined her nails.

"I got bored after the first two weeks," she explained. "Besides, there really wasn't anything I could say that would make him feel much worse. Not that I didn't try, of course."

Harry considered this a moment before shrugging and carrying on his way.

* * *

Two hours, three showers, five sobering charms and the type of Hangover Potion normally reserved for dragons who have gorged themselves on fermented fruit for a year, Remus Lupin wandered into the living room just in time to hear Harry say

"- and that's pretty much how it happened."

An awkward silence greeted his arrival as everyone turned to stare at him.

"You missed a bit." Harry pointed at a piece of something that had encrusted itself into Remus' beard. The werewolf raised a finger and tentatively felt at his face.

"Aw, crap!" he muttered, turning around and heading back up the stairs. A shave and another shower later, the now probably clean Remus reappeared, just catching the end of another explanation.

"- so there really isn't much else to say."

"What's going on?" he asked, slumping into a chair and looking around curiously. "Harry, how come you're home so early?"

"What do you mean?" asked Harry.

"It's mid-November, shouldn't you still be in school?" There was another long pause.

"It's December 16th, first day of the Christmas holidays," Harry explained slowly, as if to a particularly idiotic child. "How long have you been drinking for?" he asked, voice tinged with concern.

"Four weeks, three days and - when did you finish this morning, old boy?" Sirius answered for him, finishing with a question and an amused smirk at his fellow Marauder, who promptly blushed and hid his face in his hands.

There was a pained expression on Remus' face as he raised it, looking across the coffee table at Harry.

"Harry, I want to apologise for the state you saw me in earlier. . . sometimes. . . sometimes when things happen that we aren't prepared for, we respond to them to them in ways that might seem reasonable from one perspective, but from another. . . more balanced standpoint, could be a _teensy_ bit irresponsible."

Harry grinned and turned to Sirius. "Is he grounded too then?" he asked with a wave at Remus.

"What?" asked Remus in confusion as Sirius and Arcturus sniggered their amusement.

"Harry set a Dementor on his friends to get back at them for pranking him before they went home," Arcturus explained casually, tossing the abandoned newspaper across the table as evidence. They grinned at the expression of horror that developed on Remus' face as he speed read the article as only a closet Ravenclaw could, before turning to stare at Harry, who shrugged in response and began pouring coffee for all of them, summoning the largest mug he could find for the still slightly furry-headed werewolf, filling it with steaming black liquid.

"What? I mean. . . How? Wait, what?"

"We've just been discussing it," Arcturus continued. "And I think we've covered everything, don't you Sirius?"

"Yep, definitely no need to talk about this ever again," Harry agreed cheerfully.

"And you're only grounding him?!" Remus shrieked at the two Black Lords. "Someone could have been Kissed!"

"Yeah, that's why we're grounding him," Sirius explained nonchalantly. "Missed opportunity to take out half of Slytherin, don't you think?"

Remus took a large gulp of coffee, Harry surreptitiously watching as he swallowed. The cup went back on the table and Remus looked around all of them, his mouth trying to form words that his brain was still trying to process and instead only opened and closed a couple of times. He took another, bigger, swig. Harry grinned as the cup tipped back far enough to reveal the words "I'M A TWAT" stencilled on the bottom of the mug, earning himself a bemused smile from Arcturus and a proud grin from Sirius.

"But. . . how?"

"I am so not having this conversation again!" Harry announced, turning to address Arcturus, "So what's happened with all the Death Eaters after the legislation?"

The elder Black gave a heavy sigh and a shrug. "Mostly what we expected, unfortunately - the more astute were able to hide the majority of their assets before the necessary sanctions could be imposed by the Ministry. Malfoy's lawyers were able to set a precedent that the noble families weren't responsible for the actions of an individual, so unless the marked individuals were the last of their lines, most of the family wealth remained untouchable and once that had been established, obviously everyone else followed suit. The real damage has been to their public image, the branding as magical creatures, though even that has faded somewhat in the past months and will no doubt be forgotten with this new fracas." He waved towards the discarded Prophet by way of explanation and Harry winced at his own role in distracting the wizarding world from the plight of the Death Eaters.

"What about the others on our side? Have there been any attempts at retaliation?" Harry asked.

Arcturus shrugged and shook his head. "The usual death threats, a few angry mutterings, but I think we may actually have shot ourselves in the foot with this whole mess."

"What do you mean?"

"Up until now," Sirius chimed in, taking over the explanation, "the Death Eaters and their allies have always been fairly obvious with their plotting - a modicum of subtlety is always required, of course, but inevitably their actions played out on the floor of the Wizengamot and so their intentions couldn't be hidden for long. Now, with no direct access to the governing body of the country, they are conducting their business and intrigue elsewhere; any political action must be taken through proxies or non-marked allies, their influence on notable figures, Minister Fudge, for example, is limited but still there to a degree. Our biggest challenge now will be weaning those individuals from that influence and getting them to think for themselves, obviously the ideal outcome being their alliance with us or neutral parties."

"I see those political lessons haven't been completely ignored." Arcturus noted with a smile. Sirius shrugged in response.

"Well I figured with Remus being the irresponsible one and being drunk most of the time, one of us had to have an understanding of what was going on. Though now he's sober, I'm rather looking forward to skipping those lessons again." He finished, only half-joking, eliciting a laugh from Harry even as Arcturus groaned in exasperation.

* * *

That evening, with Harry snoring on one sofa and the others conversing quietly enough so as not to wake him, Remus, having been filled in over the course of the day as to exactly what had happened, turned to his friend.

"Controlling dementors..." He trailed off, the obviously difficult thought stuck in his head. "Do you ever get the feeling that we may have unleashed something truly horrific onto this world?"

They both looked over at Harry who had fallen asleep on the sofa after consuming an obscene amount of food over the first dinner of their holidays. Sirius gratefully accepted a large glass of Firewhiskey from Arcturus, swirling it around before taking an appreciative sip.

"Sometimes I wonder if I should be terrified or proud," he answered, and his grandfather snorted in amusement.

"Proud," Arcturus stated firmly. "The amount of crap he's had to deal with and he's still relatively normal? Definitely proud." There were two nods of agreement as they watched the tousle haired youth snoring away. "Though I wouldn't want to piss him off."

"Besides," Sirius commented lightly, "I remember a werewolf at school who nearly ate one of the other students." Remus glared back at him, keeping his voice as low as possible to avoid waking Harry.

"That was your fault, and you know it!" he hissed.

"To-may-to, to-mah-to!" Sirius shrugged carelessly.

"You can be such a dick sometimes, you know that, don't you?" Sirius just grinned and nodded at the insult before softly calling out for Kreacher to take Harry to bed, which the wrinkled house-elf managed with surprising gentleness.

"I think," yawned Arcturus, "that Harry has the right idea - portkey is at nine tomorrow morning. I trust you are both packed?" Sirius and Remus exchanged guilty looks, prompting rolled eyes from the elder. "Skiing, warm clothes, France, leaving at nine. Go pack." They groaned their acquiescence and slowly trudged upstairs to do as they were bid, Sirius stopping to listen outside Harry's room, smiling at the soft snores coming from within.

* * *

The holidays passed quietly and far faster than any of them would have liked, ensconced in the cosy Black family chalet in the heart of the French Alps, occasionally going against the cold weather with thick clothes and liberal use of warming charms as they explored the local slopes.

All too soon they were back at Grimmauld Place, Harry emptying his trunk of ski clothes in favour of school books and robes before joining Sirius, Remus and Terry Higgins by the floo connection.

"Ready?" asked the mercenary, casting a quick glance over them all and nodding slightly in approval as Harry gave his own confirmation. "Good, we've got Katie, Dave and Kieron at the station already, you missed the blowback from the whole Dementors on the school train but I've saved the article. Makes for some entertaining reading and Fudge is getting more stick for it, but general consensus is that he'll probably survive, though with a lot more oversight."

Harry skimmed the proffered paper with a bored expression before handing it to Sirius, who gave it a marginally more detailed examination before shrugging indifferently and tucking it under one arm. Harry looked around the platform, spotting the unusually high number of clingy goodbyes occurring throughout the thin scattering of students who were returning via the Hogwarts Express and their families. Guilt flickered through him as he realised that he was probably at least partially responsible for the nervous glances being cast towards the shadows despite the assurances from Fudge's administration that the Dementors had been returned to Azkaban.

"Right," Sirius pushed him towards the train as the whistle blew, his luggage hopping up to join him in the compartment. "Off you go. Try and behave yourself or at least - "

"Don't get caught?" Harry interrupted with a cheeky smile. His three guardians and their assembled body guards grinned and backed away as he pulled the door closed, waving and calling their goodbyes as the whistle sounded again and the train jolted into motion.

"Right then," he muttered to himself as the luggage leapt onto one of the benches, turned in a circle like a dog trying to make itself comfortable and then retracted its legs and settled in for the journey. He was fairly sure it growled as he opened up one of the compartments to extract a charms textbook, flicking idly through in an attempt to alleviate the boredom of the journey.

His studying was quickly interrupted by an avalanche of ginger and swearing as Fred and George tumbled in, arguing about exactly what had been the best prank of their Christmas holidays.

"I still say it was getting that Munchy-Mask working!" Insisted George.

"Are you quite literally insane?!" Fred shrieked indignantly. "It was obviously the charm we got onto Percy's badge -"

There was a slightly muffled but very outraged scream of fury from the direction of the Prefect's car.

"- he's only just noticed it," finished Fred without missing a beat. "Besides, did you see how angry Mum got when Ron was stuck looking like a mini-Snape for two hours? Not worth the trouble on that one."

"Yeah, but he shouldn't have been that way for so long anyway, it should have faded after ten minutes, so if we get that fixed, we're on to a winner!"

Harry grinned. "Good holiday I take it?" The twins grinned and nodded keeping their bobbing heads just out of synch enough to make anyone watching feel sick.

"Yours?"

Harry gave a half nod in return as the trunk growled and begrudgingly made space for one of the twins to sit down next to it as the other plonked himself next to Harry.

"So Harry. . . "

"Yes Fred?"

"Susan Shaw?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Speak to her over the holidays?"

"We might have swapped Christmas cards," Harry admitted with a small smile.

"And now that you're both back?"

A figure glanced into their compartment, made brief eye contact with Harry and moved on in a flash of blonde, providing ample excuse for Harry to jump up and ignore the twins' enquiries.

"Hey, Daphne!" He called to the retreating witch. She stopped, paused and then slowly turned around, a cool expression on her face.

"Yes?"

"You're not even going to say hello? What's up? How were your holidays?" Daphne kept her expression neutral and let the silence drag out.

"Hello, nothing, fine. Yours?" He frowned at being on the receiving end of the treatment he had given to Hermione on their first meeting.

"Also fine, but listen I had a - "

"Great, see you later." She turned on her heel and walked off, leaving a very confused young wizard in her wake. He turned to the two red heads who were now arguing over a game of Exploding Snap

"Why is she pissed with me?"

"Why is who pissed at you?" one of them asked without looking up.

"Greengrass."

"Don't know," Fred replied.

"Or care," George added unsympathetically just as both twins were blown backwards as the cards in front of them erupted in a cloud of soot and sparks.

"Ha! Karma!" Harry crowed as the twins coughed the smoke from their lungs. "Deal me in," he instructed, reclaiming his seat.

As the journey continued, they were joined by Lee and Neville, filling their time with tales from the holidays and an unhealthy amount of snacks purchased from the dining cart carefully avoiding anything the twins came into contact with for even the briefest of moments.

* * *

"Right, listen up!" Harry tuned out the following speech, feigning interest as Wood paced back and forth in front of the assembled Gryffindor Quidditch team. The first week of term had been dogged with thick snowstorms that had threatened to delay the first game of the season yet again but, much to Oliver Wood's enthusiastic approval, Saturday had dawned to reveal a Hogwarts covered with several feet of snow that sparkled in the winter sun and forced everyone to squint against the glare.

Harry was almost disappointed, part hoping that the game would be delayed so that he would be able to work out exactly why Daphne had reverted to her original attitude towards him and was treating him with cold indifference. He started as the rest of the team cheered enthusiastically, then realised that Wood had finally finished his rant as to why this year would be different and why they would bring back the Cup to Gryffindor where it apparently belonged.

He wasn't overly fussed, having been fully expected to be relegated to the bench and seeing it as the perfect opportunity to apply several warming charms to himself and make a start on his homework. This sentiment was apparently not shared by Ron, who was bitterly complaining about how his sister was starting and he wasn't. Or, for that matter, by Oliver Wood and the rest of the team, who were all looking at him with varying degrees of expectancy apart from the twins, who were grinning viciously and making rude gestures from behind their captain's back.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Harry asked, "I was ignoring you."

Wood scowled. "You're starting."

"Why?" Oliver looked like he was about to have a stroke, choking out several noises that might have started off as words before pointing at Angelina Johnson, who in turn waved at her right arm in it's immobilised position in a sling across her chest. Harry felt briefly guilty, remembering the explanation of a particularly violent encounter with Venomous Tentacular that meant Johnson's arm would be out of action for at least a week. "Oh. Yeah, that makes sense. Go team!" he finished with a less than enthusiastic cheer and a fist pump, grabbing his broom and following the rest of their players out to the pitch, studiously ignoring the grumbles of boy-Weasley about how unfair life was that he hadn't been picked to start.

It took all of five minutes before the first time out was called by Madame Hooch as one of the Slytherin Beaters took a swing at Katie Bell's head instead of the Bludger, and it was two minutes after play had resumed before Harry found himself being pinballed between the two Slytherin chasers, Quaffle barely contained under his left arm. Katie and Alicia tried desperately to jostle into position for a dump pass only to be blocked at every turn by Montague and Warrington, the bulkier Slytherin players. He cursed as he spotted the Slytherin Beater, Derrick something-or-other, pull up in front of them, the streak of viciousness slicing in to be re-directed by a well aimed swing of a bat and the Bludger began getting rapidly larger in Harry's vision.

"Aw crap!" He kicked one foot from the stirrups and planted it firmly on the broom. _This will either be amazingly awesome or amazingly painful_, was his brief thought as he launched himself off his broom and over the head of the player to his right. The shocked screams and cheers of the crowd barely registered as broom and player separated. He pushed the ball away from him for Alicia to catch it by significantly more luck than judgement going by the expression of shock on her face and the screams of disbelief from both crowd and Lee Jordan's commentating, but Harry's focus was elsewhere.

The last, desperate kick from his feet forced his broom down, it's momentum carrying it under the blocking player even as Harry went over and, as gravity began to take effect, he turned his head and stretched out an arm. His fingertips grazed the handle, barely allowing him enough purchase to pull the broom back under him.

He only just heard Montague's cry of "No fucking way!" before the Slytherin Chaser took the Bludger aimed at Harry square in the face as Harry regained his position on his broom, grinning maniacally and speeding off to give Alicia and Katie some unneeded support in scoring.

Two hours later, Harry was standing in front of an irate McGonagall, trying and failing to feel bad about the dressing down he was receiving.

"Of all the irresponsible, dangerous, foolhardy, reckless, rash, stupid, idiotic behaviour I have seen in this school, on and off the Quidditch pitch, your performance today takes first place!" Harry kept his face carefully neutral, hands clasped behind his back eyes fixed resolutely on the back wall of the professor's office. "And I've taught the Weasleys! And the Marauders!" She glared at him and the silence stretched on. "Well? Do you have anything to say in response?"

Harry thought for a moment, cocking his head to one side and pursing his lips he wasn't sure if she was referring to the leap over Montague, the swing under his broom to punt the Quaffle through the hoop for his third goal, the moment he had deflected a Bludger with a well timed swerve and a slap that had coincidentally sent it spinning away to an oblivious Malfoy, or one of the other tricks he had opted to utilise to alleviate the boredom of regular Quidditch. The fans had certainly approved, but the irate Head of House in front of him? Not so much. "Um. . . thank you?" A small part of Harry's mind wondered if it would be possible to use the anger radiating from the elderly Scotswoman to boil a kettle, the rest of it was cursing his mouth for opening and making noises without the say-so of his brain and wondering if they would be able to get out of this in one piece and without detentions for the rest of his school career.

"Get! Out!" Harry took the offer before it could be rescinded and beat a hasty retreat.

"I have no idea what she's so pissed about," he muttered to himself as he walked back towards the Gryffindor common room, "we won the damn game!"

There was a brief moment of silence as Harry entered the common room before deafening cheers erupted and he was hoisted onto the Twin's' shoulders for a victory lap. He was deposited in front of a grinning Oliver Wood who promptly pulled him into a hug before yanking his arm into the air, displaying him to the grinning common room.

"Ladies and gentlemen. . . And Fred and George, our man of the match: Harry Black Potter!" He forced a butterbeer into Harry's spare hand. "Drink this, have fun, don't break yourself before the next match - that's an order!"

"Aye aye, captain!" Harry agreed with a mock salute and taking a healthy swallow.

"Hell, if you play like that in every match, we're going to be a shoo-in for the Cup!" enthused Wood, a maniacal gleam in his eye. By the end of the evening, Harry's back was sore from the pounding it had received from his fellow Gryffindors and his head was distinctly fuzzy from whatever it had been that the twins had passed to him with a surreptitious wink and a warning not to let Percy see. In hindsight, he probably should have known better.

The morning after dawned bright and early, the sunlight pounding against Harry's eyelids demanding entrance. It was ignored. Some four hours later, he groaned, squinting against the light, trying to argue with his bladder about how long he could stay in bed. The room span as he stood and he groaned again, bringing the world back into focus as he put his glasses on and realised that it wasn't as early as he had thought, the other beds long since empty and re-made by the castle elves and that the sun was significantly higher than expected. He swore viciously and leapt to his feet, realising he was now over an hour late for his study session with Daphne, who had only just started warming to him after her frosty start to the year.

He entered the bathroom at a run that was more controlled falling than anything else, tripping into the shower and making himself gag with a toothbrush before obtaining a level of semi-humanity. He briefly wondered if he had time to convince the twins to give him one of the hangover potions they would undoubtedly be selling for exorbitant prices to the other Gryffindors who had over-indulged on the liquor that had been handed out by the dastardly duo with what was now unsurprising generosity, given the profit margin they could make on the difficult to brew potion vs the ease of smuggled in liquor, before giving it up as an exercise in futility.

By the time Harry reached the library, the rest of the school was seriously considering lunch. He peered around the library, taking a deep breath before heading over to the blonde witch studiously ignoring him with an air of hostility so palpable that there was a ring of unoccupied tables around her. He cleared his throat and was ignored.

"Ummm. Hey. I'm late..." he trailed off.

"Yep."

"Sorry." Daphne glared up at him. He attempted a feeble smile before stammering out another apology. "There was a party last night… I think the twins spiked the punch." The glare didn't falter and he gave up. "I'm really sorry."

"Listen, Potter" the young witch began, her words dripping with venom. "I really don't care what you want to spend your school days doing, or who you want to spend it with, but when your idiocy starts impacting on my work, _that_ is when we have a problem, is that clear?"

He gulped and nodded his understanding. "Good." She responded, pushing a book across the table at him. "Read that, pull out anything you think might be useful and add it to the pile of notes there." She waved a hand towards the stack of parchment covered with her own neat handwriting.

It took five minutes before Harry was able to pluck up the courage to try a conversation. "So, um I had an idea for our project…" He waited for a response, hearing nothing. It wasn't all that surprising - despite the fact that they had been carrying out research and passing ideas back and forth since the start of the school year, they hadn't been able to agree on exactly what they would do for their Runes project. "I was thinking about how much time we've spent in the library so far together, how much reading we have to do to find even one scheme that we want, or cross-referencing texts, looking for books that have been checked out or manuscripts that have been lost - "

"Do you have a point?" Daphne snapped irritably.

"We need a Google." He said with a nervous smile.

"We need a what?"

"A Google." He repeated, frowning slightly at her incomprehension. He rubbed his face, wondering how to describe a search engine to a pure-blood. "The muggles have this thing called the internet - originally it was created to share information, though now it's mostly used to share stupid pictures of cats and pornography - anyway, google is a… thing where you can search for anything you want on the internet."

"You just said it was for cat pictures and pornography."

"Yeah, mostly it is, but you can also find out pretty much anything you want to know - anyway, my point is, how often have we known what it was we wanted to find, only for it not to be where it should be and then we eventually find it because it's hinted at in a footnote of a reference in one text, the appendix of the next, sourced by some unknown clerk from Azerbaijan in his university thesis that he's now completely forgotten about and then finally we find it on a Chocolate Frog card by pure chance?" Daphne thought about it for a moment before opening her mouth, only to be cut off by Harry. "OK, so I appreciate that that precise series of events only happened once, but do you get my point?"

"Yes." She agreed, staring into the middle distance as she thought about the practicalities of the idea. "So are you thinking of using it like the reference system of the library?"

"Well, kind of, only... More." He finished lamely, earning a scowl from Daphne in place of a demand for more information. "OK, so hear me out. What if, instead of checking out a book from a library at the start of the year, each student was given one book that was linked to the library - whatever book they then want to access from the library throughout their time at school, they simply write the title or subject into the first page, turn the page and, hey presto, there it is." He smiled as he saw Daphne mulling the idea over. "Now, moving on from that, imagine you're working on an essay - let's say the mating patterns of Norwegian Ridgebacks - you write _'Norwegian Ridgeback'_ into the front page, and it then produces a list of texts which contain information on the topic, the more mentions, the higher up the list."

Daphne leant back in her chair, staring up at the window and sucking on the end of a strand of hair, a tick Harry had noticed that meant she was deep in thought and so he watched her intently, trying to work out which conclusion she had reached.

"Two things: one, publishers are going to hate you;" Harry waved this off irritably as a completely unnecessary point; "two, how do you stop people using the system to access the restricted se - oh, you still have an authorisation process through teacher's signatures, just keyed into each book instead of handed in to Madam Pince." She cut herself off, answering her own question, a smile flashing across her companion's face as he realised she was warming to his idea. His smile faded as she didn't resume her questioning but instead began packing her things away, books flitting their way back to the shelves as notes were carefully ordered and packed away. "Well, there's a lot of work behind that - you might have been right," she admitted with a sigh "this will take us two years."

"So why are you going? Let's get started now!"

"I'm going for lunch, I'm bloody hungry!"

* * *

For Harry, the rest of the year passed relatively uneventfully. With the loss of Snape as the Slytherin head of house, the temporary replacement coming in the significantly more appealing form of Aurora Sinistra, who apparently did not share her predecessor's bias and was more than willing to punish members of her own house. This fact which became remarkably apparent when she banned the Slytherin team from competing in any further Quidditch matches for the rest of the year after they were caught attempting to sabotage the Gryffindor squad's brooms.

By the time summer study leave rolled around, the entire school was back to a state of as near to normalcy as one could expect from a school such as Hogwarts and the vast majority of the student body were grateful for this fact. Harry was not one of these people.

"Fred" Harry began, approaching an unusually solitary twin who jumped, startled, his eyes darting from side to side, looking distinctly guilty.

"No I'm not, who told you that?!" He demanded in a hushed voice. Harry shrugged, bemused by the twins antics.

"Fifty-fifty chance. What are you up to?"

"Nothing." Insisted George, plastering the worst innocent look across his face Harry had ever seen.

"Uhuh." Harry remarked, unconvinced. "Anyway, I'm bored, I want to do something to mark the end of the school year, but I'm drawing a blank - "

Just then, the door behind George opened, his twin stepping out hurriedly before coming to an abrupt halt as he saw Harry.

"Harry old boy!" Fred greeted cheerfully. "What brings you here? We should go." He added as an aside to his brother.

They each looped an arm across Harry's shoulders, marching him forcefully and hurriedly away from whatever mischief they had been up to.

"What did you do?" He asked.

"Why worry about that?"

"Yeah, it's already behind us." There was a loud explosion and the twins broke into a trot, still dragging Harry with them as various concerned cries echoed from the corridors around them. Finally, when the devious duo decided they had placed enough distance between themselves and their latest dastardly deed, they stopped. Abruptly. And pushed Harry forwards into a wall.

"Ouch. Arseholes!" They grinned.

"So..."

"What can we do for you?"

"I think we should do something together, to mark the end of the school year."

"Like a picnic?"

"Or a trip to the fair?"

"Perhaps you'd like to - "

"I want to prank everyone." There was a pause. Previously, any of their pranks had targeted broad swathes of the student or staff body, sometimes both, however there had always been one or two people that escaped through sheer chance.

"Everyone?" Asked Fred. Harry grinned.

"Everyone." Harry confirmed.

"There's only one way you can get everyone."

"Yep."

"The Last Supper." The Last Supper at Hogwarts was exactly that - a last dinner before the final year students left for good and everyone else went home for the summer.

"Yep."

"That's… that's pretty ballsy."

"So are you in or not?"

"Well. Yeah. Of course we're in."

"What are we, pussies?"

"Yes, but now that you're in, I need you guys to stop being dicks and start brainstorming some ideas with me."

"Alright, alright, unbunch your panties, I'm sure we can work something out."

Harry glared at the blasé response from the twins at his audacious suggestion. His expression calmed as he thought, then the grin began to make it's way back onto his face.

"Hang on a minute lads, I've got a great idea."

* * *

**The Last Supper.**

"Heads up Harry, we've got a lot of angry witches." Fred warned, looking remarkably worried at the prospect of the inevitable retaliation.

"Yeah, some of them tried more than once." Added George as they arrived at the Great Hall, noting the more than usual number of angry glares in their direction. Before they could even reach the Gryffindor table, they were confronted by a bushy-haired third year who was practically quivering with fury.

"What did you do?" Hissed Hermione to the trio who tried to avoid looking guilty as sin.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Harry insisted.

"The spell!"

"What spell?"

"You know the one!"

"I really don't I'm afraid, what with this being a school for magic, many spells have been cast, some of them, though not all, by me. So you're really going to have to be more specific."

Hermione Granger went bright red and glared at him.

"I think," Susan Shaw intervened, having caught the last part of the confrontation as she arrived, "Hermione might be referring to the fact that whenever a person left the common room earlier, certain… items of clothing that were on before were suddenly… not on."

Harry looked at her curiously for a moment. "You're remarkably calm about this." She smiled beatifically, but before she could respond, they were interrupted by the incredibly irate form of Daphne Greengrass.

"Potter you little crotch-stain, get your arse here now." Not waiting for his response, she grabbed him by the ear, dragging him away from the group and pushing him roughly against the wall. He gulped.

"Where are they?"

"They'll come back! I promise!" She glared at him. "Soon."

"They'd fucking better you little shit-bag, or I swear to all that you hold holy, I will cut off your balls and make you eat them!" And with that particularly vicious threat, she turned on her heel and stalked angrily to her seat. Just as she reached the edge of his hearing, he could have sworn he heard something muttered about "lucky pair" and "matching set", and suddenly he found it much harder to keep the smile from his face.

Re-taking his seat and rubbing his ear, he thanked whichever deity that was watching over him that Dumbledore chose that moment to rise from his seat, raising his hands for silence which arrived, if not quite as swiftly as was normal.

"Welcome to you all to the Last Supper here at Hogwarts. We are gathered within these hallowed walls to wish those of you who are sat here for your final time as students the very best for your future, hoping that you look back on your years here with fondness, that the bonds you have formed here today last you a long and happy life. To those who are returning to us next year, we wish you all a restful summer and encourage you to put your minds to the year ahead of you as we look forward to a new influx of students in September. And now, having spoken enough, I present the Last Supper!"

With that, he clapped his hands twice. There was a slightly forced cheer at the expected arrival of the usual sumptuous banquet spread from the houselves. It died rapidly as everyone discovered their previously missing underwear had suddenly reappeared. On their plates. In front of everyone.

There was a pause as everyone processed the sudden reappearance of their undergarments. The twins and Harry grinned at each other, looking around the table at the offending items. It hadn't been just Hermione who had been caught more than once - the charm on each of the House common rooms and several key corridors had instantly vanished the underwear of anyone passing through and it appeared that a few people had believed that trying again with a new pair would have a different effect. It hadn't.

At the head table, Dumbledore was staring down bemusedly at the shapeless grey material on his plate. He poked it once with his wand before rummaging under the table with his spare hand. "Huh. I thought it felt a little breezy down there." He pulled the not-so-tighty-or-whities from his plate, stuffing them in his pocket and the food finally appeared.

Harry's grin widened as he looked up and down the table, nudging Neville in the side as the blushing boy quickly pocketed his own underwear.

"I hate you, Harry. Like, a lot." Harry just grinned. "Hang on though, some people beat you." Neville pointed out a smattering of empty plates, then yelped as Susan Shaw kicked him under the table, a blush rising as the boys around her began to notice her empty plate.

"You beat him!" Hermione cheered before becoming suddenly serious, a fanatical look in her eye at the prospect of new knowledge. "Teach me," she demanded "tell me how!"

"I didn't beat him." Susan muttered, her cheeks reddening even further as the attention on her increased. She sighed, realising she wasn't getting out of this without an explanation and she switched to looking anywhere but at her small audience. "I guess it's hard to make something disappear if it isn't there."


	24. Chapter 24

_Sorry this has taken so long to update, Merry Christmas to you all! Also, sorry. You'll see why in... now._

All Harry could smell was smoke and fire and burning. He ached all over, and to top it off he was so damn tired. There were noises in the background, screams and shouts, panicked voices yelling to each other but it all seemed so far away - even the voices nearby were faint and broken, leaving him to only pick out part of the conversation, as if he were listening to a conversation in another room. If only he wasn't so tired, Harry was sure he could open his eyes, maybe understand a little more but all he wanted to do was sleep.

"... can't! …. what... happen… out?" A familiar voice, arguing with someone.

"And …. don't? …... Harry?" Another familiar voice, this one logical, reasoning.

"... to move!" A third voice, insistent and demanding.

"... us a …"

"... me then."

"..."

"But I -"

"... ... ...ban... sentence."

There was a pause, the sound of fire and carnage

"... who… spell?" The first voice spoke last, defeated and accepting, so quiet Harry could barely make out the words.

A finger pulled his eyelid up, smoke smarting and pulling tears from his eyes, blurring his vision even more than usual. A dark silhouette flickered into view, the ruddy glow of the fire behind them shrouding the features in shadow. There was a whispered spell and Harry drifted away into blissful unconsciousness.

* * *

Harry slowly clawed his way from sleep, exhaustion fighting him for every millimeter he tried to raise his eyelids, a vicious thumping emanated from the back of his skull and a slight shift of his head told him that there was at least one bruise just behind his left ear. He groaned and a blurry silhouette came into focus as Remus gently placed his glasses on his nose.

"What… what happened?" Harry asked, trying to will his eyelids to stay open and to summon enough saliva to combat the cotton wool feeling in his mouth.

The last thing he remembered was the chaos in the aftermath of the Quidditch World Cup and now here he was lying in a hospital bed in what he assumed was St Mungo's, the smell of smoke and fire still in his nostrils. Sirius' eyes, red rimmed and tired, were barely able to meet Harry's for more than a glance before staring intently at hands clasped together below his eye-line. Harry turned his gaze to Remus, who shifted uncomfortably. His gaze flickered to the two Aurors who stood by the door, watching impassively, their wands drawn but pointing at the floor. In the shadows of a corner was the dark suited Sinead O'Driscoll, watching with quiet intensity, a younger man wearing an equally dark suit stood at her shoulder.

"How much do you remember Harry?" His second surrogate father asked gently.

He thought carefully, trying to piece the story together in his mind.

"It's all… hazy. We were waiting after the World Cup match when there were shouts - someone said there was an attack going on and we tried to leave… Where's grandad?"

"Do you remember what happened next?" Remus asked, ignoring Harry's question.

"We tried to cut out through the campsite, but there were too many people everywhere. There was a lot of smoke… was there a fire?" Remus nodded encouragingly for Harry to carry on, "Then someone started casting spells at us… there was a lot of shouting and screaming, I remember seeing people in masks and dark robes," Harry caught the glance between the two Aurors at the door. "There were too many of them, we all got split up… where's Arcturus? He's not hurt is he?"

Remus shifted uncomfortably, now both he and Sirius avoiding Harry's gaze.

The colour drained from his face and his voice faded to a whisper "He's not… he's not dead is he? Sirius, why aren't you looking at me? Where's Arcturus?" He demanded.

Eventually Sirius looked up, eyes wet, voice hoarse. "Bellatrix." Harry slumped back against the pillows, pushing his palms into his eyes, trying to force the tears back. "He tried to stop her so we could get free but…" He trailed off shaking his head.

Harry was about to ask another question when the door opened to admit two more Aurors and a rangy looking man with a mane of greying hair, yellowish eyes behind the glasses, a slight limp supported a simple cane. Harry recognised one of the flanking Aurors as Nymphadora Tonks though the other was unknown. All three stopped at the foot of the bed.

"I'm glad to see you're awake, Master Black-Potter," he greeted Harry, voice clipped, professional. "My name is Rufus Scrimgeour, Deputy Head of the Auror Department, I do not believe we've had the pleasure before. Lord Black," he turned, addressing Sirius, whose eyes looked up briefly, "Your time is up, I have given you as much as I can allow but now you must come with me."

"May I have a moment alone to say goodbye to my godson?" The voice was barely recognisable as Sirius' - drained and tired, defeated.

"As I said, I have given you as much time as I can allow. Please, do not make this more difficult than it already is." Harry watched the exchange with confusion, still reeling from the revelation of Arcturus' loss.

"What's going on? Sirius? Remus? What's happening?"

"Harry - " began Sirius gently.

"Your godfather is under arrest under suspicion of several counts of murder and for the use of a Class II restricted spell, namely Fiendfyre." Scrimgeour cut him off and one of the two Aurors who had been stood by the door moved forwards, placing a hand under Sirius' arm to pull him to his feet, wand held carefully out of reach but ready to be used.

"What? No! That can't be, it's - "

"Harry, not now." Sirius voice was tired but firm and he rose with the assistance of the Auror, placing a hand on Harry's arm, part comforter part restraint. For the first time Harry was able to see the manacles around his godfather's wrists, the delicate engravings of magic blocking runes a stark contrast to the heavy iron restraints.

All fog of sleep now gone, Harry bolted upright, throwing his arms around his godfather who responded awkwardly, leaning in even with his wrists bound together.

"Never forget who you are Harry, or that I love you." Sirius whispered quietly. He pulled away, giving a tearful smile down at the shell-shocked young man he had helped raise. "Your parents would be so proud."

"Sirius, wait!" Harry shouted desperately, pain and confusion seared into his face. Sirius glanced briefly at Remus, merely nodding to his oldest surviving friend before he was ushered out of the door. "Dad!"

His final desperate plea earned a choked sob from Sirius as he was ushered out of the door by the Aurors, but he didn't look back at the boy he considered his son. Sinead O'Driscoll cast a sympathetic glance towards Harry and Remus.

"I'll do what I can." She promised, turning to leave, her companion remaining in place.

Remus nodded in thanks before turning back to Harry, grasping at his hand, though Tonks and the last remaining Auror could hardly tell who was drawing more comfort from the contact.

There was a long pause as Harry stared bewildered at the door, wondering exactly what had happened to bring his entire world down around his ears like this. He turned his confused gaze on Remus who choked back a sob and avoided Harry's eyes, coughing to clear his throat before beginning his explanation.

"There was an attack… Death Eaters trying to sow chaos. We knew they'd been planning something but this took us by surprise - they hit just as the game finished, used the muggle campground owners as shields, throwing curses at the rest of the crowd. You got hit by some debris - cracked you on the back of the head and knocked you out. We were on our way out when Bellatrix showed up, Arcturus..." He coughed again, swiping away a tear before continuing. "He tried to stop her. Talk to her. They fought but when he had her pinned, one of the others caught him with a spell in the back. Sirius... Sirius cast Fiendfyre, got whoever cast the spell - "

"Bellatrix?" Harry asked, his voice flat, already half knowing the answer.

Remus shook his head scowling bitterly. "Got away. As did the others, those that…" His eyes flickered up to meet Harry's before darting away again, continuing in a whisper. "That Sirius didn't get."

"So why are they arresting Sirius?"

"After the… incident at the Carrows'," Remus shifted awkwardly, trying not to explicitly mention what happened with Victoria "the Wizengamot voted to re-classify Fiendfyre - it's use is now restricted, earns the caster a five year stretch in Azkaban, though Sinead says she should be able to mitigate it considering the circumstances… it's the death of at least one person involved." He held up a hand to stop Harry's protest. "While they may have been marked Death Eaters, they were still members of Noble Houses and the Houses will want retribution in some form and even after the Dangerous Creature Act, they are still considered property…" He gave a bitter laugh. "On the plus side, it means he'll get charged with destruction of property, not with murder."

"Sweet Merlin but that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" Harry protested incredulously. Remus shifted uncomfortably and nodded in agreement.

"After the Dangerous Creatures Act was passed" Tonks chimed in, "those who had been marked were 'adopted' by their families, much like Remus was by the Black family and they became property of their House."

"Shouldn't the Houses be charged for the damages they caused then?"

"If any had been caught red-handed, sure." Agreed Remus with a heavy sigh. "Unfortunately none of them were captured and so anyone who's gone missing, unless there were any witnesses, which of course there weren't, is assumed to be innocent."

"But they were attacking everyone else!" Harry protested.

"Yes, everyone with half a brain knows that." Agreed Remus before adding bitterly. "But unfortunately we're dealing with the wizarding world, who have the collective intelligence of a retarded slug."

"Ahem." The second Auror, who had remained silent up until now, cleared his throat in protest.

"Sorry, Auror Dawlish," Remus apologised to the man, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "I'm sure some retarded slugs are really nice and have moments of brilliance."

Auror Dawlish scowled in response but said nothing.

"So let me get this straight, Death Eaters attack the world cup, Arcturus gets killed, Sirius defends us while we escape and yet the only person to be charged with anything is the one who tried to help?"

Remus considered this for a moment, sighing heavily before nodding in agreement.

"That is so goddamn stupid I don't even know where to start." The words came out in a bitter whisper and Remus could only nod in agreement. Even Dawlish, though he would never admit it aloud, conceded that the boy might have a point when it was presented in this manner.

"What happens now?" Asked Harry tiredly.

* * *

**Scenes of Terror at Quidditch World Cup!**

**Black Family in Shambles**

_After the nail biting Irish win over Bulgaria, the dramatics at the Quidditch World Cup were far from over, writes Rita Skeeter. As fans attempted to leave the stadium, a group of wizards and witches rumoured to be wearing Death Eater outfits attacked, casting spells and prompting panic amongst the fans gathered for the much anticipated final._

_The truly terrifying moment however, came when Lord Sirius Black, heir to the Black family who made a highly publicised return to the wizarding world last year with his adopted son - the one and only Harry James Potter and defeater of He Who Must Not Be Named - cast the restricted spell of Fiendfyre, allegedly in response to an attack on his party that resulted in the death of Lord Arcturus Black._

_This spell was reclassified only last year as a Class II restricted spell, therefore carrying with it an automatic 5 year prison sentence. Our source within the Ministry of Magic hinted that this was in response to an event which also involved the Black family, who have long been known for their association with the darker side of magic another scion of which, Bellatrix Lestrange, nee Black, was identified as one of those who initiated the chaos. _

_Despite claims by the Black family lawyers that his actions were in self-defence, Deputy Head of the Department for Magical Law Enforcement and lead investigator to the incident, Rufus Scrimgeour stated that Sirius Black would be charged for the use of the restricted spell. A guilty verdict would result in not only a prison sentence, but also the Black family being held responsible for the substantial damage caused by its use._

_The turmoil amongst the Black family also calls into question the matter of guardianship of Harry Potter as currently the only member of the Black household of maturity is the werewolf Remus Lupin, who reappeared with Sirius Black and Harry Potter last year. This reporter is certain she is not alone in the concern she feels for the upbringing of one of the wizarding world's most famous children and hopes the current investigation by the Department for Child Welfare sees young Harry being raised by more appropriate parent figures._

Harry sat in his compartment of the Hogwarts Express, trusting in the privacy wards and notice-me-nots he had cast on the door to ensure his privacy as he stared blankly at the article. He had read it at least six times now, and each time it seemed to make less and less sense - it seemed the Ministry of Magic and the Daily Prophet were more than happy to ignore the attack by the Death Eaters, preferring instead to focus on what was shaping up to be a very public trial.

The remainder of the summer holidays had been remarkably subdued in the wake of the events at the World Cup. The wranglings of the O'Driscoll legal team had been able to keep Harry with Remus at least for the time being, but were unable to secure Sirius' release on bail thanks in no small part to the regular articles from the Daily Prophet focusing on every dirty deed ever committed by or even attributed to the Black family, somehow blaming all of these on Sirius.

Harry had seen his godfather only once since his arrest - the Saturday before term started, at Arcturus' funeral. Sirius had been escorted by two Aurors Harry didn't recognise, the cuffs of his mourning robes hitched around the magical restraints cinched at his wrists. They had been allowed the briefest of hugs by the Aurors and a stilted conversation had ensued, both trying halfheartedly to assure the other that he was ok, neither quite believing nor having the energy to question it.

And now here he was - sat on the Hogwarts Express, alternately glaring out of the window at the sheets of rain that were blown by the wind against the side of the carriage or at his copy of the Daily Prophet. He was thinking, hard. He picked up the paper again, his scowl deepening as he re-read the words that were spending more effort on a character assassination than raising public awareness of a potential Death Eater resurgence.

The paper began to smoulder in his grasp - in shock, he stared at it for a moment before dropping the smoking parchment to the carriage floor turning his gaze to his hands. Harry could see the heat emanating from them and the realisation dawned: his anger and frustration were exercising a level of accidental magic, semi-consciously venting itself on the cause of his ire. Focusing his will power, he controlled his breathing, forcing the heat from his fingers and trying to calm himself.

He stood, leaving the paper on the floor, closing his eyes and concentrating on his breathing as he paced back and forth in the small compartment. It didn't work, and his body suddenly burst into flame as he popped into his animagus form. He stopped abruptly, looking at his reflection in the rain spattered glass.

The tip of his horns scratched burning holes into the ceiling of the compartment, the floor warping and smouldering beneath cloven hooves, molten magma glowing dully between the dark, twisting plates that formed his body, radiating heat that threatened to melt the seat coverings. Daemonic features leered back at him, the rain streaked windows adding tears to the reflection of a cherufe nearly the size of Hagrid. Even Harry's sigh came out a rumbling laugh, warped vocal cords twisting his words so they came out with the same threatening grumble of a malignant volcano on the edge of eruption.

"What in all nine circles of hell am I going to do now."

The train jerked as it began to slow, startling Harry from his thoughts. Fiery red-gold eyes pierced through the rain to the shadow of the Hogwarts castle, and a seed of an idea began to sprout in his mind. Blackened lips twisted into a malignant smile around flaming stalactite teeth and a vicious chuckle elicited a small gout of sulphuric fumes.

With a flicker of concentration, Harry transformed back, the smile fading from his face as he schooled his expression to neutrality. A swish of his wand removed the scorch marks from the ceiling and floor, vanishing the ashes of the discarded Prophet.

Harry stepped down from the carriage and on to the Hogsmeade platform, ignoring the stares and muttered comments. There'd be plenty more of those this term, of that he was sure. Internally he allowed himself a grim smile as he contemplated the chaos he would no doubt cause cause.

_Dun dun duuuun. All mistakes are mine - I was as impatient to post this as I hope you are to read it so there was no beta. As always, any and all reviews are welcome._


	25. Chapter 25

_A (hopefully brief) note._

_For starters, I'm not dead. Thank you for everyone who has written a review or a message of encouragement, I honestly do read them all and, if I had the time I would reply to them all as well. Unfortunately, this is the real world and life has to take priority, not least looking for a job and a house._

_Secondly, thank you very much for everyone who has pointed out that I've fixed Harry's eyes and then gave him glasses again. That's my bad, sorry! I intend to go back and fix as many of these mistakes as possible just as soon as I can, though I'm rather assuming everyone would prefer I finish the story first! I'm also working beta free at present, so all problems/mistakes fall squarely on my head. This is also true for the idea of a magic google, despite google not being invented till 1998. Let's blame time travel for that one._

_This brings me on to my last point - I had an idea which I have included in this chapter regarding Dumbledore. Please read the chapter, then the note I'm going to leave about this at the end before leaving any comments, but it will require quite a re-write, which, again, I'm going to leave until I've finished. Sorry for any confusion._

* * *

Harry sat in the welcoming feast, thinking hard. Every now and again he'd grunt in response to a question from Neville or the twins or Lee, perhaps twist his lips into an attempt at a smile when one of them tried particularly hard to make a joke. He did his best at ignoring the stares from the rest of the student body and the faculty, tuning in to the Sorting Hat's song with half an ear in the hope that there might be another hidden message only to be disappointed when it seemed perfectly normal.

When the food arrived he chewed mechanically, staring off into the distance, grateful for the pause in the questions being thrown in his direction that allowed him to focus on his plan, breathing a sigh of relief when the headmaster finally dismissed everyone for dinner. For the first time, he actually listened to what one of the twins was saying.

"... so unfair! Why can't we compete as well?"

"What?" Asked Harry, earning himself some more concerned looks. "Why aren't you allowed to play Quidditch?" Their coterie of friends turned to look at him as if he had just sprouted a second head.

"There's no Quidditch this year Harry." One of the twins explained slowly.

"It's going to be the Tri-Wizard Tournament instead." Filled in the other.

"Did you not listen at all at the welcoming speech?"

"Did you even notice that Neville's dad isn't teaching DADA again this year?" Asked Lee. Harry cast a confused look at his friend, who shrugged.

"Alastor Moody's doing it instead - ex-Auror, worked with my mum and dad when they were on the force."

"He's got this magical eye -" Began Hermione enthusiastically.

"I know." Harry cut her off, "met him before, odd chap and I didn't realise he'd retired from the Auror department. As to listening at the feast, no, I wasn't. Last year it was massively dull, so I just tuned everything out." Harry replied.

"That's fair enough," conceded Neville "normally it is, but this year Hogwarts is hosting the Tournament and it's the first time in like, a hundred years -"

"Two hundred and two years!" Hermione helpfully supplied from where she had been tagging along on the fringes of their group.

"- yeah, anyway, it's only open to those who are over 17." Finished Neville.

"So?" Asked Harry, "Last time it ran was the Tournament Nobody Won, where all the competitors died, so that's kinda understandable." Everyone stared at him. "What? There was a Potter in that tournament."

Hermione stared in horror at the revelation of this tit-bit of knowledge that Harry casually dropped into the conversation.

"But aren't you annoyed that we can't enter?" Asked Fred incredulously.

"Not really - I've got one or two other things on my mind right now."

They fell into an awkward silence at his response, spending the rest of the walk to the Gryffindor tower in an awkward silence.

"Mister Black-Potter!"

Harry turned to see his head of house waiting for him as he arrived in the common room, motioning for him to join her. He stepped into McGonagall's private office, accepting the seat she offered as she took the one across from him. She took a moment, awkwardly picking at the shawl draped on the arm of the chair, opening and closing her mouth twice as she tried to find the words to address the young man before her.

"I wanted you to know," she began eventually, "just how sorry I am for your loss." He stared back at her, noting the watery eyes that spoke of her own hurt, recalling seeing her sobbing quietly at the funeral, though she had left quickly afterwards, speaking only briefly to Remus and not at all to Harry. "Your grandfather… Arcturus was a great man, and I am aware just how tough these last two years have been for you." McGonagall paused, hoping Harry would take the opportunity to open up to her, only to be met with a blank, emotionless gaze that made her feel even more uncomfortable. She sniffled, reigning in her emotions as best she could.

"Yes, well I just wanted to say that if you ever wanted to talk about it, my door is always open to you."

"Thank you professor." There was another long, awkward pause. "Was that all?"

She gave a jerky nod in response, watching as the son of some of her favourite students quietly stood and made his way back out to the common room. She coughed against the lump in her throat, brushing away the tears, wondering just how Harry was going to cope with yet another close loss. She let out a sigh, whispering a silent prayer to anyone who was listening that he would be ok.

* * *

The first night back in Hogwarts, Harry woke with a start, snatching his wand from the bedside table and casting a flame freezing charm against his bedspread. He cast a frantic look around the darkened dorm room, breathing a sigh of relief that his charms had held around his bed. It had taken what felt like hours to fall asleep, tears coursing down his cheeks as he tried to sob out his grief, the effort of willpower it had taken since his arrival back at school to keep his emotions in check and the lack of sleep since the Cup taken it's toll.

"Just a dream." He muttered to himself, slumping back into sweat-soaked pillows, replaying it in his mind as he tried to calm his breathing and slow his pulse.

_They were running through the chaos of the World Cup Campground, Sirius, Remus and Arcturus close in a protective huddle around him. Two of the HSG wizards were running with them, eyes and wands scanning for threats as they made their way to the edge of the wards. Then the spells came thick and fast - they had stumbled straight into an ambush, masked assailants dodging in and out of the shadows. _

_The two mercenaries fought back, aided by Sirius and Remus as Arcturus threw up a hasty shield around himself and his grandson, pushing forwards and away from the firefight despite Harry's insistent demands to let him help. The had almost made it when Bellatrix's cackling form appeared from the smoke._

_Harry had screamed with rage, tearing away from Arcturus and furiously casting spells that were dodged and shielded by the insane witch. His grandfather had joined him, shielding them both as Harry cast purely offensive spells, not caring for the danger he was in, forcing Bellatrix back through the chaos of the camp site._

_He had seen the green spell streaking towards him, slowed in dream time, his movements sluggish as if he were fighting through thick treacle. It did not seem to affect Arcturus in the slightest as he moved in front of the spell, throwing himself between Bellatrix and Harry, falling to the ground in a lifeless heap to the sound of crackling flames and the hysterical laughter of his grand-daughter._

_Harry screamed, then everything went black._

It came every night that first week. Every night, he woke sweating, his sheets smouldering and soon the flame freezing was cast by reflex whenever he awoke, the silencing and obscuring charm that had earned him an odd look the first few nights soon become accepted as normal.

On waking each day, he had carried out his exercises, Neville, Susan and Daphne joining in but ignored; he had eaten his meals, attended his classes and completed his homework. Even Mad-Eye Moody's demonstration of the Unforgivables in their first Defence lesson had barely spiked his interest. Each day, he had avoided his friends as much as possible. He knew they were getting worried, but quite frankly he didn't care. There were bigger things to think about now, and even if there weren't the events of the World Cup just made school seem… pointless.

* * *

In his office, Dumbledore was staring at the note he had charmed to appear before him at least once a day for nearly thirteen years:

_Arcus Senilis - everything in balance. Now you are paying the price._

He thought back to the events of 1981 as he read through the letter from himself, breathing a heavy sigh as he read through it yet again...

_Every time Dumbledore had fought against Voldemort, it had been harder and harder to drive the other wizard off, how it had slowly dawned on him that yes, he had once been the strongest wizard alive but that now… now Voldemort was rapidly catching up with him. Both men were of similar magical strength, the ruthlessness and energy the younger had was pitted against Albus' skill and experience and each time they faced each other, it was taking him longer to drive Voldemort away and longer still to recover afterwards._

_He had searched high and low for a solution, fully aware that Voldemort was doing the same and also cognisant of the fact that the other would not shying away from the rituals that required the sacrifice of another to steal a portion of their strength - indeed Dumbledore suspected that with each horcrux Voldemort made, his magical core had increased in size, not by a great amount, but certainly by some. It came to a point where the Voldemort was winning more than he was losing and it was all the older wizard could manage to hold him off for long enough for everyone to make their escape._

_Finally, he had found something. A grey ritual, certainly, but one that at least would not sacrifice another. Instead, he would trade: his future for his present. He doubted it would make enough of a difference for him to win, not now, but it might just be enough to weaken the other man to allow one of the others to finish the job. And so Albus resigned himself to his death; he would take the draft, trading against his future magic and ability for the present, fight as long as possible against Voldemort, hopefully ending the war and going out in a blaze of glory._

_The potion was brewed and Dumbledore was ready. Then came the prophecy and he felt a ray of hope - there was another who would defeat Voldemort if only he could make sure they would survive long enough, train hard enough, to win. When he found out that Severus had passed this information straight on to Voldemort who went straight to Godric's Hollow thanks to Pettigrew, Dumbledore had cursed the two men again for their duplicity, for forcing his hand, cursed himself for thinking his plan would ever work out as he had hoped._

_When he discovered what had transpired, Dumbledore had had no choice at all. The instant the first drop had reached his lips, he had noticed a change. He had taken half the draft before he had realised the stupidity of his action, flinging the flask away from him only to have it smash against the edge of his bowl of lemon drops. He cursed loudly, watching the rest of the liquid and shards of glass settle into the sweets even as he felt the potion take effect. _

_He had arrived at the back of Godric's Hollow ready to fight, the tang of dark magic a brutal scream against his potion enhanced senses. Half the side of the house was now missing, the room that had been Harry's now completely open to the elements. With a sinking feeling in his gut, the now spry Dumbledore levitated himself into the bedroom. _

_There was nothing but the motionless and cooling body of Lily Potter. As Albus strode through the house and down the stairs, he began to do something he had not done in years - he prayed. He prayed that he could intercept Voldemort before he could conduct whatever vile ritual he was planning with the Potter heir, he prayed that he could get to the Longbottoms in time now it was too late for the Potters. As he stepped over the corpse of James, he heard a crack of magical transportation from the front garden and his pace increased._

_By the time he got there, whoever had left was long gone. A tracing spell revealed a port key and an apparition, each twisting the other to make them nigh on untraceable. He apparated to the outskirts of the Longbottom Manor just in time to see Hagrid head back inside, eavesdropping on the conversation that went on, a feeling of despair welling up inside him. It wasn't that Voldemort was defeated, no - that was undoubtedly cause for celebration, it was that he knew what would come for him now. _

_He gave a sob of realisation - there would be no flash of glory, no great final battle where he would sacrifice himself for the greater good, no inspiration for others to take up arms against the spreading darkness. Instead, it would be his worst nightmare. His mind would begin to fade with his body, an inexorable failure that would see not only the decay of his mind and body, but also his legacy._

_With gut-wrenching realisation, Dumbledore apparated back to Hogwarts and instead of using the temporarily advanced reflexes and dexterity to fight Voldemort as he had planned, he began picking slivers of glass from his bowl of favourite sweets, casting a spell that would prevent anyone but him taking a potion affected sweet from the bowl. What a horrible waste._

Back in the present, Dumbledore sighed. The fog of age now thicker than ever, he slumped back in his chair, cursing himself for his actions in 1981. A tired hand, covered in liver spots and gnarled by arthritis, rubbed against eyes behind half moon glasses. He knew it was only the high regard that the majority of the wizarding world held him in and a century of experience that kept him in his position of authority, just as he knew it was only a matter of time before he was forced, either of his own volition or another's, to step back from the limelight for the last stages of his decline towards death.

The chime that signified someone was approaching his office called his attention to the small portrait that normally showed his sister, yet another regret he had from his past, now revealing Minerva making her way up the stairs. With a heavy sigh and a swipe to remove the tears of self-pity, a wave of his hand disappeared the note. He waited a moment or two, calling out before his Deputy Head could knock on the door.

"Come in Minerva!"

She entered, a slight purse of her lips the only sign that she still hadn't worked out how he always knew who it was at his door.

"Good evening headmaster, I just came to speak to you about young Harry." He gave her a benign smile and an encouraging nod to continue. "To cut to the point I'm worried - in the past year alone, he has lost two friends and now Arcturus and Sirius as well, and since he's come back, he just seems so distant. I don't think he realises just how much he's ostracising himself from his friends - or worse, he does and he's doing it on purpose!"

Dumbledore sighed, unwrapping a sweet and sucking away, pondering the matter as he waited for the ever-weakening effects of the potion to take hold. He knew now that he was just making a bad situation worse, but each time he felt a semblance of his old intellect, he felt himself that much closer to a solution, a cure, even having recognised the signs of addiction long ago.

"I think," he began, forcing himself to focus on the matter at hand "we must try to use this opportunity to have Mr Potter more involved with the magical world." He paused to think, sucking furiously at the lemon sweet. "We should approach the Longbottoms - no, not them, Frank had a hard enough time teaching last year, we cannot ask them to adopt Harry, though I'm sure they would… perhaps the Weasleys… no, again they would be willing but Arthur and Molly are already stretched with their brood as it is."

"Can Remus not continue to look after him? He clearly loves the boy deeply and Harry loves him too - he's another father figure and I know that's what Harry would want."

Dumbledore waved a dismissive hand. "Can you imagine the pureblood contingent - even the moderates - allowing the heir to two noble houses being raised by a werewolf without raising hell in the Wizengamot? No, they'd merely use it as an argument for why Harry should be placed under their control. What about Lily's family? She had a sister didn't she?"

McGonagall scowled "Over my dead body! I went to see them just after Lily died, do you know her sister seemed glad to hear of her death? Horrible people and time hasn't improved them - Arcturus told me their son was one of the students Harry played rugby against, a vicious thug by all accounts and his father's no better. They'd probably try and lock him in a cupboard under the stairs or something."

"I highly doubt they are quite that bad Minerva," Dumbledore eyed her over the top of his glasses. "Though perhaps you are right… we shall think on this and see how things go with Sirius' trial - this may all be a moot point if his lawyers are able to keep him out of Azkaban. In the meantime, I shall continue my petition to the Wizengamot for temporary guardianship of the boy."

McGonagall pursed her lips, dissatisfied with the solution but unable to think of a better one at present. She gave a brief nod of agreement.

The next day, Dumbledore was waiting on another visitor when the notification charm went off and this time he didn't need the portrait to confirm who it was.

"Ah, Mr Potter, do come in." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as Harry made his way into the headmaster's office just after breakfast on the second day of school. He shook his head in response to the proffered bowl of lemon drops before taking a seat. "I wanted to take this opportunity to express my sympathy, for everything that has befallen you over the past two weeks, and indeed over the past year and a half." There was a long pause as Harry stared blankly at a point three inches behind and to the left of the headmaster's head. He was fairly confident in his Occlumency skills but there was no point in tempting fate.

"Hm, yes, anyway... Arcturus Black was an impressive man." There was another pause as Dumbledore slowly unwrapped another sweet and popped it into his mouth, lips pursing against the sour taste. "I understand" he picked his words with care, very aware that this would be an incredibly sensitive matter, "that you wish to attend Sirius' trial."

Harry's expression barely flickered as he nodded. "They want my witness statement from the World Cup." He stated, voice flat and calm.

"Yes, well I'm sorry to inform you that this cannot happen." Despite his best efforts, Harry couldn't hide the shock from his face. The headmaster gave his best reassuring smile. "Never fear, your statement will still be taken, and I'm sure your godfather's lawyers will do their best for him. However these things can be very distressing for those involved and -"

"But I want to see him!" Harry protested. In truth, the prospect of seeing his godfather and Remus, even if it was at a trial that could well see his godfather imprisoned, was one of the few things that was keeping him semi-sane.

"Of course you do my dear boy! But this trial will be seen as an opportunity for… certain elements of our society to consolidate their position in the aftermath of the attack at the World Cup, and they will most certainly attempt to use you against your godfather." He gave a sympathetic look to Harry, who shuffled uncomfortably under it. "This really is for the best." He added gently. "And if you wish to give me a letter for him, I will of course pass it on."

"Thank you sir." Harry whispered quietly, staring now at the floor, slumped forwards.

Dumbledore sighed heavily, cursing himself silently for what he knew he had to shape the boy into, for what Harry had to be willing to do for the wizarding world. "For what it is worth, Harry, you do have my sympathy… and I wanted to assure you that if Sirius is found guilty, the matter of your guardianship would be discussed with you going forwards - for now I have taken temporary guardianship -"

"No!" Snapped Harry, glaring at the old wizard opposite him. "Remus is my guardian if Sirius - "

"Harry please," Dumbledore began, his voice soothing, hands raised in an attempt to calm the distressed young boy in front of him. "I know what you, and indeed Remus and Sirius would want from this, but you have to see that the heir to a noble house - to two houses, in fact - could not be raised by a werewolf."

"Why not?" Demanded Harry bluntly, now standing and glaring at the Headmaster, who sighed, popping another lemon drop into his mouth as he worded his response. After a moment, he gave a heavy sigh.

"This is not a short explanation, so please bear with me." Harry examined him, eyes narrowed in consideration before finally giving a nod of acceptance. "When you disappeared from the wizarding world with Sirius and Remus in 1981, there was a significant amount of concern voiced by members of the public and political bodies of the time about who was raising you." He raised a wrinkled hand to hold of Harry's protests.

"Despite fighting against Voldemort, both men were remembered as pranksters at school by their contemporaries - while good men, perhaps not the responsible role models that one would want for the saviour of the wizarding world." Dumbledore gave a small smile as he remembered some of the Marauder's pranks. "As to those who didn't know them personally, Sirius was a member of the Black family, whose reputation you cannot be unaware of concerning the dark arts, while Remus is a registered werewolf."

"When you returned last year, fully adopted into the Black family, there was still criticism, but with no actual grounds for complaint against their parenting and the respect and strength Arcturus held within the Wizengamot, no one could petition for your removal from their care." Dumbledore gave a heavy sigh. "With his death, that support is seriously undermined. Some will support you for the sake of his memory, others will do as they always have and act in their own best interests, or in the interests of whoever pays them most. Additionally, with Sirius' self-confessed use of Fiendfyre, regardless of whether it was in self defence, there is now a compelling argument to have you removed from their care."

Harry was silent for a long while.

"So what happens now?"

"Sirius will be tried for his use of a restricted spell and will at the very least be fined heavily - had he not confessed immediately, I have no doubt that he would be free already but as he did, Miss O'Driscoll will have a hard time keeping him from behind bars. If he is sent to Azkaban…" old eyes met young and Dumbledore felt another twinge of compassion for the boy sat opposite him. "We will address that when the time comes - as I said, for now I have applied for temporary custody and you will be able to stay here until the start of the summer holidays, by which time we should have found a more permanent solution."

* * *

"Oi, Potter." He looked up from his paper - two and a half feet on _Runic Interference and Interaction._ "Starting without me?"

"Greengrass." He acknowledged, turning his attention back to the parchment in front of him. He scratched another few words before glancing back up at her. "Did you want something?"

She dumped a small stack of books on the table next to his much larger heap. "We're supposed to be working on that project remember? The magical goggly-thing."

"Google." He corrected absent mindedly.

"Yeah, aren't we working on that?"

"No, I need to finish this." There was a long silence.

"Oh. Well, do you mind if I work here too?" Harry shrugged without looking up.

They worked on in silence for nearly an hour before Harry suddenly blinked, staring at the passage in the book in front of him. His heart hammering with excitement, he made a note of the page and title of the book, a glance flicked up and assured him the Daphne hadn't noticed anything. With an extreme effort of will power, he was able to finish the essay without making it seem like he was rushing, and then he stood, cracking his back and sending the books he'd been using flitting back to the shelves.

"Hey!" In his distracted state, Harry hadn't noticed that Daphne had also been using one of the books he had just sent back.

"What? Oh, sorry." He continued to pack his things away.

"Look Potter… Harry," she began, standing as well and trying to keep the glare from her expression. "I wanted to say I'm sorry about what happened to Lord Black, and to Sirius. They both seemed like really nice people."

"They were." Muttered Harry, pulling his bag onto his shoulder. He glanced out at the hand that had reached across the table to grab the sleeve of his robe.

"What I also wanted to say was that if you wanted to speak to someone, I'm always here." He stared at her for an uncomfortably long time, expression blank. Behind the stony gaze, Harry had a hundred things going through his mind, but right now, he couldn't say any of them. Especially not now.

He grunted a response, pulling his sleeve from her grasp and moving towards the exit. It might have been his imagination, but he was certain he could feel her scowl burning into his back as he left.

He gave a heavy sigh as he left the library, part wishing he hadn't come up with this particular scheme. He had contemplated sending a letter to Remus or one of the HSG teams, but he knew full well that they'd just try and talk him out of it. He thought through all the adults he knew, wondering if any of them would have supported his actions. There was perhaps one, but Sirius was locked away until the trial, and there was no way in hell Harry trusted the Ministry not to read through the mail before it reached an inmate.

There was, however, one letter he did need to write. He strode purposefully to the owlery, pulling parchment and quill from his satchel. He thought for a moment, mulling over exactly what he needed to say, what he needed the other person to do and what to do when it was done. Thirty minutes later, an owl flapped from the top of Hogwarts, Harry's letter securely tied to its leg as the boy himself slowly descended the tower.

Lost in thought, Harry didn't realise that one of the staircases was changing direction until it was too late. He scowled to himself, stepping off at the top and resigning himself to a longer walk back to the dormitory. Then he heard it.

A whisper. Then another. He looked around. It was a rarely used corridor on the fifth floor and this late at night it should have been completely deserted and wouldn't even be on the route for prefect's rounds. There was a third whisper, and Harry was almost certain he could recognise the voice. He slipped his wand into his hand, his left hand sneaking into the moke-skin pouch at his waist, hunting through the magically expanded bag until his hand closed around the smooth cylinder.

He checked around himself quickly, discarding his book bag and taking a quick breath before casting several quick spells. The first was Mr Smith's Chinese duplication spell. Harry sent his double to continue walking down the corridor flinching at the feeling of disorientation as he saw things from two perspectives at the same time. Wand at the ready even as he cast his second - an obscuring charm that elicited a shiver as the feeling of raw egg dripped down his neck. With a few more flicks of holly and phoenix feather, Harry was padding softly along the ceiling, having the perfect vantage point for when a dozen students in Slytherin robes appeared from various hiding spots along the corridor.

His double did admirably, felling three students before being hit by multiple spells, and Harry let the duplicator slide, his doppleganger disappearing to the surprise of those who had been assaulting it moments before.

"Where'd he go!" Screeched Draco indignantly. "We got him!" There was a clatter as a slim grey canister landed on the floor in their midst. "What the hell is that?"

"It says flash -" began one of the other students, before a deafening _bang!_ echoed down the corridor, a blinding flash of light making them all see stars as Harry began casting stupefies from the ceiling at their defenceless forms.

Until with a final "_Stupify-Incarcerous-Expeliarmus!_" Harry dropped to the floor.

The spell chain was executed perfectly. The downwards slash at the end of the _Stupify_ leading into the low twist at the start of _Incarcerous_, the final jab of which led smoothly into the twirl at the start of the _Expelliarmus_ which in turn finished low, ready for the upstroke at the start of the _Stupify._ Not that he had any need for it as he caught the wand of his final target as he landed lightly on his feet.

_I really wish that Mr Smith could have seen that - a perfectly executed three-spell chain, three different targets while falling from a height of…_ he looked up to judge the top of the arched window. _Twenty feet? The miserable bastard would still find something to criticise, no doubt._

He turned to face his now wandless opponent, shaking his head in disappointment before casting an idle _Stupefy_ at one of the bound but still marginally conscious figures on the floor, glancing around and stupefying two more of the twelve students that had accosted him and weren't already out for the count before facing the now _very_ worried looking Draco who was trying to blink the stars away. Harry really wished they had put up a bit more of a fight, he could have used a target for some of the pent up anger and frustration from the last two weeks.

Draco cupped a hand against his ear, trying to get rid of the ringing.

"Mah… mah..." He glared at Harry "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW PAINFUL THAT IS? Mah..." He shouted, unable to judge the volume of his own voice, before tapping again at his ears. Harry rolled his eyes and flicked his wand, and Draco staggered slightly as his his ears stopped ringing and the stars cleared from his eyes.

"We got here as quick as we…" came the breathless statement from behind Draco. Harry leant to one side so he could see around the only other person still standing. "What the hell?!"

"I knew it!" Draco shouted triumphantly as Fred, George and Lee arrived behind Neville, slightly more out of breath than the younger Gryffindor at the far end of the corridor, all of them staring incredulously at the carnage before them.

"What?" Harry was confused.

"I _knew_ you couldn't have beaten us on your own!" Draco waved towards the newly arrived quartet "You had your friends waiting for us and then they shot us in the back while you distracted us!" Harry looked on in stunned disbelief at the other boy's power of self-delusion, Draco folding his arms and beaming in pride as if he hadn't just lost a fight.

"Were you dropped on your head as a child, or do you have to work at being this stupid?" Asked Fred, leaning against the wall and trying to get his breath back.

"We only just got here." Panted George. "Besides, even if we'd been here all along, there are still twelve of you so you'd have outnumbered us by three to one!" He added, pointing towards the motionless shapes littering the corridor. Draco waved him off.

"A ruse! To try and shake us off, make us all think that Potter's more powerful than he really is!" He insisted "And besides, it wasn't really three to one, more like two and a bit."

"One" said Harry, raising his middle finger to swear at Malfoy much as Isaac had a over a year and a lifetime ago. "Did you really just use the word 'ruse'? What is this the nineteen-thirties?!" He raised his index finger to continue swearing "Two, learn to count, there are eleven on the floor, plus you. Even someone as dense as you are should be able to manage that maths." Draco huffed with offence at the insult and then waved towards two of the larger comatosed figures littering the hallway.

"You can't really claim that Crabbe and Goyle count for one each. Maybe one together, but that's still being pretty generous." The Gryffindors all shrugged and nodded in agreement despite finding themselves in the unfamiliar position of agreeing with a Malfoy.

"Whatever." Harry put in before Draco could take them down a rabbit warren. "This is going to get really boring if this continues. You'll attack, you'll lose and then eventually you're going to do something that winds me up enough to the point that I lose my temper, say something nasty and you run crying like a bitch to your mummy or end up with an extended stay in the infirmary." He held up a hand to stall Draco's complaints "So I'm going to teach you how to fight when you lose your wand."

"What?" Came Draco's incredulous question. Whatever he had expected the outcome of his carefully planned ambush to be, this wasn't it.

"What?!" Chorused the twins, Neville and Lee. They hadn't run all the way to the far end of the fifth floor from the Gryffindor common room to rescue Harry from an ambush, only to watch him teach one of his attackers how to fight him more effectively next time.

"Right, step forwards, just there, good." Harry pointed Draco to a point about arms length in front of him, gently positioning the other boy into a boxer's stance. Draco, now completely at a loss, let himself be shifted into position. "Now, you're right handed, aren't you" he got a confused nod of confirmation "ok, so left foot a little in front of the right, that's it. Hands up." Draco's hands shot into the air above his head as if he were being held at gunpoint.

"No, idiot, this isn't a highway robbery, this is a boxing lesson. Like this." He demonstrated himself and then positioned Draco's fists by his face in a crude semblance of a guard. "Are you ready? You look ready." Draco gave a nervous and completely inappropriate nod to the affirmative.

"OK then, we're going to start with a jab, it's going to be coming from this hand." He waved his right hand slightly and Draco's eyes widened. He opened his mouth and started to protest lowering his fists slightly as he did so.

"I don't think - " Harry's left hand shot out over the lowered guard, smashing into Draco's cheek. With a shriek of pain he took a step back, rubbing his rapidly bruising face. Harry sighed, straightening from his stance and shaking his head disappointedly.

"No. No, no, no, NO!" He got back into the boxers stance "Your hands are there to protect your head, never let your guard down!"

"You said you were going to strike with your other hand!" Draco protested with an outraged glare.

"First rule of fighting," Harry said with a malicious grin, "believe your eyes, not your opponent's mouth. Come on, lesson isn't over yet." He waved Draco forwards to resume his place in front of Harry and the other boy begrudgingly obliged, raising his hands back up as Harry had shown him and doing his best to ignore the dull pain in his cheek. The confused observers watched on as they regained their breath, not bothering to wonder what Harry was doing, just enjoying the spectacle of Draco's first boxing lesson.

"Next is the right cross." Said Harry.

"Wait, I haven't got the jab yet!" Draco protested quickly.

"You want to see it again?" Asked Harry. "Fine." Just as Draco realised what he had said, Harry's left fist snapped out again, hitting almost the exact same spot and sending the Slytherin stumbling backwards with another cry of pain.

With an angry snarl, he charged forwards, swinging his arms wildly. Harry raised his fists, protecting his head with his hands and his body with his arms and elbows against the mostly ineffectual blows that were grossly over-telegraphed and under-powered. Eventually Draco stepped back, breathing heavily.

"And there you see the importance of a good guard," commented Harry in his best instructors voice "the hands protect the face, the elbows and arms the body." He took a small step forwards "Now, the right cross." His right hand flashed out and Draco staggered back with a split lip and a wail. "Both together, try to guard this time Draco." He cut the boy a break and slowed down his punches, allowing him to mostly block them. "Good work!" He praised. Draco smiled nervously and began to straighten up.

"Now, the punches you were trying to use early were a mix of haymakers and sloppy roundhouses." He explained and Draco nodded, looking as if he wanted to be taking notes "You want to avoid using haymakers because they're pretty easy to see coming, but a good roundhouse is always a useful punch to know. Just be careful throwing them at someone's body because you can put your shoulder out. Guard up!" He called. Draco's fists came up too slowly, and the blow sent him to one knee.

"I don't want to learn any more today." The Slytherin moaned miserably from his place on the floor, spitting out a small trickle of blood from his split lip and trying to shake out the ringing from his head.

"Just one more lesson for today." Harry said cheerfully, pulling the Slytherin to his feet. He'd feel sympathy for the pathetic figure before him if he hadn't been terrorising the entire school for the first two years of his academic life. And the fact that he was a monumental twat. "You're going to try and hit me. I'm not going to put my guard up, I'm just going to move. But" he cautioned with a raised finger "if you don't hit me after two punches I'm going to start fighting back, got it?"

At the far end of the corridor, their audience shifted uncomfortably, all of them noting the slightly too-eagre gleam in Harry's eyes. Oblivious to their concern, Draco raised his hands as he had been shown, narrowing his eyes at his tormentor. Harry smiled encouragingly back at him and gave him a nod to begin when ready.

_Speed, that's the key._ Draco thought to himself _Left jab!_ Harry swayed to the right and the punch missed him. _Damn! Roundhouse!_ Harry swayed again, to Draco's left this time. _Shi-_

Everything went black before Draco could finish the thought.

Harry scowled at how easily his opponent had gone down, grabbed the unconscious boy by the collar with one hand and pulled him up with one hand, slamming his fist into Draco's nose. The blond's nose crunched and his head lolled. It felt good. He raised his fist again.

"Harry!" The shout pulled his angry gaze to his mostly ignored audience.

"What?"

"You've beaten him."

"So?"

"So you don't need to hit him any more."

He looked at the bloodied features of Malfoy, the other boy limply sagging in his grasp. He thought for a moment before dropping Draco with a shrug, the painful _crack_ his head made against the floor earning a grim smile that made his friend's shiver uncomfortably.

Harry picked up his book bag, picking his way through the other unmoving forms.

"How did you know I was here?"

Neville waved the Marauders Map at him by way of explanation. Harry took the map from unprotesting fingers, idly cancelling it with a wave of his wand before stuffing it into his bag.

"Wait!" Called Lee, "There are twelve of them and you look like you've barely broken a sweat!"

"Yeah, and?" Harry responded, still walking.

"How?" Asked the other boy.

Harry gave a grin that held far too many teeth and exactly no mirth, the kind of grin a shark gives a seal pup just before it strikes.

"Magic." He growled.

* * *

On a Friday night at the beginning of October, Harry was sat on one side of a conjured table at the bottom of the tunnel entrance to the chamber of secrets. Opposite him were the two men who had joined him at least two, and often more, nights a week since the second week of term, the elder languidly smoking a cigarette, blue smoke curling from his nostrils. The younger scowled slightly at the smell but said nothing.

Harry felt the familiar effects of the potion that had been administered.

"Right, let's start." The younger man said before addressing Harry directly. "What's your name."

"Harry James Black-Potter." He answered, voice a flat, dull monotone.

"Are you a unicorn?"

"No."

"It's working." The younger man announced.

"Of course." Agreed the elder, a slight tinge of amusement in his voice at the idea that it would not be working. He flicked his fingers, encouraging them to continue.

Harry, despite the feeling that his brain was moving at half speed, focused. There was a flash and the two men leant back away from the table as the figure of Harry was replaced by his animagus form.

The demonic head looked down at the globs of magma and spits of flame that dripped from his form.

"Bollocks." It announced, before turning back to Harry. "It's still not working." The younger of his companions frowned in sympathy, the elder stubbed out his cigarette before disappearing the ash and butt.

"Consider yourself lucky - one of the typical side effects of Veritaserum is that it prevents the subject from gaining the mental control normally required for an animagus transformation." He hummed. "You probably have the… peculiarities of your form to thank for the fact that you can even do this much."

Harry scowled, a flick of his wand removing the charred remain of the second chair he had burned through that evening and conjuring another. "Again."

Three more times they tried. Each time, Harry turned into his cherufe form, swearing ever more viciously as the evening progressed. After attempt number five, the bottle of potion was stoppered and pocketed by the smoker.

"Right." Said the old man. "Keep practicing the partial transformation. You need to have it at second nature."

Harry glared at him in response and his eyes suddenly burned the deep gold and red of a simmering volcano.

"Try different parts." The younger man, who up until now had contributed little other than asking the control questions, shrugged at the curious glances he received from the boy and the old man. "It's like a gym work out. Build all your muscles, not just arms or chest, and you'll get better results all round."

Harry thought about it and nodded. "Thanks." He glanced at them both. "Monday night?"

They nodded their agreement and Harry levitated himself up the pipe to the third floor girls bathroom. The other two followed, the elder carrying the younger, before disappearing under an invisibility cloak.

"Laters, kid."

Harry waved a goodbye, closing the entrance to the chamber with a hiss before exiting and creeping back along the corridors to his dorm room.

* * *

A/N. Well. Big chapter, though rather "bitty" which I apologise for. I also apologise for any mistakes I've missed, but I've been delaying posting this for too long already.

Obviously the development I spoke of earlier is the cause for Dumbledore's decay. I always thought it was a little unfair that he is constantly labeled as either a great manipulator or old fool, and I know I've been guilty of falling into both tropes at times. This is my attempt at providing a reason for this - please let me know what you think!

Moving forwards, I'm going to be playing around with the timeline for Fourth Year a fair bit, so fair warning.

Please do read and review - it's why I write! Also any thoughts as to where you think I should take this are always welcome, even if I decide not to use them!

Hopefully I'll update soon, but I can't in good conscience make any promises.


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